
Gass 
Book, 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



ANNALS 



OF 



BUFFALO VALLEY, 



(^AJi^of^ Ce. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



I755-I855. 



COLLATED BY 



JOHN BLAIR LINN. 









HARRISBURG, PA. 
IjANE s. hart, printer and binder. 

1877. 



f 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1877, by 

JOHN BLAIR LINN, 

in the oflce of the juibrarian of Congress, at Washington, D. O. 



./ 







^- —-. -V.J^V.^ 






J)rT?tVLg^ 






L 




INTRODUCTION. 




Indian Tribes— Shikellimt— Logan— Aborigines of the Vallev, their 
Villages and Paths— Purchase of 1754— PexNn's Creek MassIcre- 
SouRCES OF Emigration to the Yalley — Purchase of 1758. 

N the year 1868, when I proposed to myself the labor of 
collating these Annals, I supposed their commencement 
would, in point of time, be with the date of the purchase 
made at Fort Stanwix, November 5, 1768. I thought 
too, the first sounds breaking the stillness of the Valley were the cheer- 
ful ring of the surveyor's axe, and the merry shouts of advancing 
settlers, let loose upon the "New Purchase," by the land office adver- 
tisement of February 23, 1769. But when I came to trace the 
southern line of that purchase, I found it skirting the deserted clearings 
and blackened hearth-stones of earlier white settlers, of whose sad 
fate I had never heard. 

These annals, therefore, would not be complete, without an account 
of the Penn's Creek massacre of 1755, although it makes the history 
of the early settlement of Buffalo Valley unpleasantly like that of 
nearly all others in America, in the injustice of the settlers toward the 
Indians, and the bloody retribution that followed ; and I have further 
concluded- to add all the reliable information I could obtain of the 
Valley prior to its settlement by the whites. 

The localities of the Indian tribes prior to William Penn's arrival, 
(October 24, 1682,) have been identified as follows: "The Five 
Nations," as they were then called, (after 1714, "The Six Nations,") 
occupied the territory north of the sources of the Susquehanna and 
Delaware rivers. After the partial settlement of the country, these 



r < 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



confederate tribes, were known among themselves by the mxatAquan- 
oschioni, united people; by the English they were called the Six 
Nations; by the French^ the Northern Iroquois; settlers called them 
sometimes Mingoes and Maquais. This will explain the reason Shi- 
cellimy, the first noted inhabitant of Buffalo Valley, is called, in let- 
ers from Conrad Weiser and others, indifferently, an Iroquois chief, 
1 Mingo chief, and a chief of the Six Nations. 

South of the mouth of the Hudson lived the Delewares; otherwise 
railed Lenni-Lenape, or original people. They occupied the coun- 
ry to the Potomac, and were divided into three tribes : i , the Turkeys ; 
2, the Turtles; 3, the Wolfs or Muncys. The Muncys occupied 
Pennsylvania, from the Kittatinny or Blue mountains to the source of 
:he Susquehanna, and were the most active and warlike. At the time 
)f Penn's arrival, the Five Nations had brought under their dominion 
he whole country of the Delawares. About the year 1 700, the Shaw- 
mese, who came originally from Florida and Georgia, by permission 
of Penn's government, settled in Cumberland valley, having their 
;ouncil fire near Carlisle, and extending northerly into what is now 
he territory of Snyder county, and as far as Chillisquaque creek, sub- 
;ect, of course, to the authority of the Five Nations. 

In 1 71 4, the Five Nations became the Six Nations, by adopt- 
ing' the Tuscarora tribe which had been expelled from North Caro- 
!ina and Virginia; and subsequently Shikellimy, who was a chief of 
he Oneida tribe, was sent down upon the Susquehanna as the gov- 
■rning chief of the conquered Delawares and their allies, the Shawa- 
lese. In a letter of instruction to Smith and Pettys, written in [728, 
jovernor Patrick Gordon speaks of Shikellimy as being placed over 
he Shawanese; adding "he is a good man, and I hope will give a 
rood account of them." Shikellimy fixed his residence at the old 
JVluncy town, in Buffalo Valley, and here he was visited by the first 
'vhite man who, as far as we know, ever set foot within it. 
, (1 737.) 27th February, 1 737, Conrad Weiser records in his jour- 
i:,al : ' ' Left home for Onondaga, ist March, left Tolheo,^ which is the 
last place in the inhabited part of Pennsylvania. On the 4th we 
'•cached Shamokin^ but did not find a living soul at home who could 
issist us in crossing the Susquehanna river. On the 5th we lay still; 

' At the gap in the Blue mountains, where the Big Swataia breaks through into 
lliebauon county. - Now Sunbury. 



INTR OD UCTION. 



we had now made about eighty miles. 6th, we observed a smoke on 
the other side of the river, and an Indian trader came over and took 
us across. We again lay still to-day. On the yth we started along 
one branch of the river, going to the north-west. An old Shawano, 
by name Jenoniawana, took us in his canoe across the creek at Zilly 
Squachne.^ On the 8th we reached the village where Shikelimo 
lives, who was appointed to be my companion and guide on the jour- 
ney. He was, however, far from home on a hunt. Weather became 
bad and the waters high, and no Indian could be induced to seek Shi- 
kelimo until the 12 th, when two young Indians agreed to go out in 
search of him. On the i6th, they returned with word that Shikelimo 
would be back next day, which so happened. The Indians were out 
of provisions at this place. I saw a new blanket given for about one 
third of a bushel of Indian corn." 

The site of this village is, beyond doubt, on the farm of Hon. 
George F. Miller, at the mouth of Sinking run, or Shikellimy's run,' 
as it was called formerly, at the old ferry, one half mile below Milton, - 
on the Union county side. It is a beautiful spot for a village; pro- 
tected on the north by a range of hills, with the river much narrowed 
in front, giving easy access to the Northumberland side. 

When the land office was open for "the new purchase," on the 3d 
of April, 1769, there were very many applications made for this loca- 
tion. In all of them it is called either old Muncy town, Shikellimy's 
town, or Shikellimy's old town. It is referred to as a locality in hun- 
dreds of applications for land in the Valley. I will only quote one : 
" Samuel Huling applies for three hundred acres on the West Branch 
of the Susquehanna, about one mile above Shikellimy's old town, in- 
cluding a small run that empties into the river opposite an island." 
The Huling location was secured by John Fisher, one of the oldest of 
our settlers, and West Milton is now built upon it. Shikellimy's town 
was on the " Joseph Hutchinson" and " Michael Weyland," warran- 
tee tracts, from whom the title can be readily traced to the present 
owner. Colonel James Moore, who lived there many years, told nie 
that thousands of Indian darts were plowed up there, and once, when 
blasting at the quarry, they uncovered a grave hollowed in the solid 
rock, in which they found the skeleton of an Indian. 

Shikellimy, sometime after Weiser's visit, removed to Shamokin, 

' Chillisquaque. 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



now Sunbury, as a more convenient point for intercourse with the 
Proprietary Governors. On the 9th of October, 1747, Conrad 
Weiser says he was at Shamokin, and that " Shikellimy was very sick 
with fever. He was hardly able to stretch forth his hand. His wife, 
three sons, one daughter, and two or three grandchildren were all bad 
with the fever. There were three buried out of the family a few days 
before, one of whom was Cajadis, who had been married to his daugh- 
ter above fifteen years, and was reckoned the best hunter among all the 
Indians." He recovered, however, from this sickness, and, in March, 
1748, we find him at Weiser's, in Tulpehocken, with his eldest son, 
Tagheneghdourus. He died in April 1 749, at Sunbury, and the latter 
succeeded him as chief and representative of the Six Nations.^- 

Loskiel thus notices this celebrated inhabitant of our Valley : 
"Being the first magistrate and head chief of all the Iroquois living 
on the banks of the Susquehanna as far as Onondaga, [now Syracuse, 
New York,] he thought it incumbent upon him to be very circumspect 
in his dealings with the white people. He mistrusted the brethren 
[Moravians] at first, but upon discovering their sincerity, became 
their firm and real friend. Being much engaged in political affairs, 
he had learned the art of concealing his sentiments; and, therefore, 
never contradicted those who endeavored to prejudice his mind 
against the missionaries, though he always suspected their motives. 
In the last years of his life he became less reserved, and received those 
brethren that came to Shamokin into his house. He assisted them in 
building and defended them against the insults of drunken Indians, 
being himself never addicted to drinking, because, as he expressed it, 
he never wished to make a fool of himself. He had built his house 
upon pillars for safety, in which he always shut himself up when any 
drunken frolic was going on in the village. In this house, Bishop 
Johannes Von Watteville, and his company, visited and preached the 
Gospel to him. It was then the Lord opened his heart. He listened 
with great attention, and at last, with tears, respected the doctrine of 
a crucified Jesus, and received it with faith. During his visit to Bethle- 
hem, a remarkable change took place in his heart, which he could not 
conceal. He found comfort, peace, and joy by faith in his Redeemer, 
and the brethren considered him a candidate for baptism. But hear- 
ing that he had been already baptized by a Roman Catholic priest 

1 As such, signing the deed for the Indian purchase of 22d August, 1749. 



INTRODUCTlOh. 



,in Canada, they only endeavored to impress his mind with a proper 
idea of the sacramental ordinance, upon which he destroyed a small 
idol which he wore about his neck. After his return to Shamokin, 
the grace of God bestowed upon him was truly manifest. In this 
state of mind, he was taken ill, was attended by brother David Zeis- 
berger, and in his presence fell asleep, happy in the Lord, in full 
assurance of obtaining eternal life through the merits of Jesus 
Christ." 

The most celebrated of his sons was Logan, the Mingo chief. 
By the journal of Mack and Grube, Moravian missionaries, it appears 
he lived at the mouth of the Chillisquaque creek, August 26, 1753. 
In 1 765 he lived in Raccoon valley, at the foot of the Tuscarora 
mountain. Loudon, in his " collections," says he could speak tol- 
erable English, was a remarkably tall man— over six feet high 

and well proportioned ; of brave, open, and manly countenance, as 
straight as an arrow, and apparently afraid of no one. In 1 768 and 
1769 he resided near Reedsville, in Mifflin county, and has given his 
name to the spring near that place, to Logan's branch of Spring 
creek, in Centre county, Logan's path, &c. See a notice of an 
interview with him in the memoir of Samuel Maclay, postea, year 
181 1. Heckewelder says he was introduced to Logan in 1772. 
"I thought him a man of superior talents. He then intended set- 
tling on the Ohio, below Big Beaver. In April, 1773, I called at 
his settlement, and was received with great civility." In 1774 oc- 
curred Lord Dunmore's expedition against the Shawanese towns, now 
Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which was the occasion of Logan's 
celebrated speech, commencing "I appeal to any white man to say 
if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; ' ' 
which will go down to all time, whether properly or not, as a splen- 
did outburst of Indian eloquence. 

Heckewelder says he afterwards became addicted to drinking, and 
was murdered, between Detroit and hisownhom.e, in October, 1781, 
and he was shown the place. "He was, at the time, sitting with 
his blanket over his head, before a camp-fire, his elbows resting on 
his knees, when an Indian, who had taken some offense, stole behind 
him, and buried his tomahawk in his brains." Howe's Ohio Col- 
lections, page 409, who quotes as his authority Good Hunter, an 
aged Mingo chief. 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Aborigines of the Valley. 

Of the Indians who occupied Buffalo Valley, nothing can be posi- 
tively ascertained, except that they belonged to the Muncy-Minsi 
(or Wolf) tribe of the Lenni-Lenape, or original people. The 
Valley was more a hunting ground than a residence. Some remains 
have been found at prominent points along the river, as, for instance, 
at Colonel Slifer's house, on the river, above the mouth of Buffalo 
creek, some skeletons, evidently of one family only, were uncovered. 
The large mounds were on the other side of the river, on Joseph 
Nesbit's place ; and the principal towns or villages, Chillisquaque, 
at the mouth of that creek, south side, and Shamokin, on the islaiid 
and mainland, where Sunbury now stands. 

In quite a number' of applications of 1769 mention is, however, 
made of an old Indiaii town and fort, on the Dietrick Rees tract, 
just above New Columbia; an Indian improvement at Laird How- 
ard's spring, in Kelly; one on the Craig tract, on the river, near 
Winfield ; one below that yet, on the Andrew Culbertson, afterwards 
known as the Merrill place; on the "Richard Edward's," now 
Stoltzfus' place, in Kelly, was an Indian field and plum orchard; 
and there was an improvement at Strohecker's landing, south of 
Lewisburg. 

Indian Paths. 

The great Indian path through the Valley left the river at the first 
ravine, a few rods below the Northumberland bridge, passed up it, 
following the main road, as it now is, for a few miles, then turning 
towards the river, it came down the hill upon the Merrill place ; 
thence followed the bank of the river, up through the old Mac- 
pherson place, to Lees, Winfield ; thence passing up the present 
road, it crossed directly through the fields from the Gundy road to 
Fourth street, Lewisburg; thence to Buffalo creek, where the iron 
bridge now is, a very old fording place ; thence it curved towards 
the river, passed up through Shikellimy's town, and along the river 
road, around the rocks, into White Deer Hole valley. A. H. Mc- 
Henry, the noted surveyor, told me it could be distinctly traced by 
the calls of surveys; but as all traces of it are now obliterated within 
the Valley, further identification is unnecessary. 



INTROD UCTION. 



The paths through the Valley westward are obliterated, historically 
and topographically, except the small portion of the one passing 
into Brush valley, which may still be traced in the woods west of 
Solomon Heberling's. 

Early Notices of Names of Creeks, dc. 

Buffalo creek is mentioned by its name in the Indian deed of Octo- 
ber 23, 1758. Penn's is called John Penn's creek in the same deed. 
In the deed of July 6, 1 75 4, it is called Kaarondinhah . It was called 
by the settlers, between 1754 and 1769, and marked on Scull's map 
of 1759, Big Mahany, and is so recited in deeds as late as 1772. 
Thus the "Henry Christ" warrantee, (now in Monroe township, 
Snyder county,) afterwards Herbster's place, is described as in 
" Buffalo township, formerly of the name of Shamokin, and bounded 
by Big Mahany creek, lands of George Gabriel, Abraham Herr, and 

others." Deed of Herbster to George Haines, 26th May, 1772. In 

a deed from John Turner to John Harris, June, 1755, for an im- 
provement, (now in Hartley township, owned byR. V. B. Lincoln, 
Esquire.) the creek is called "Mahanoy." 

Turtle creek was so_ called before 1769, and in the latter year I 
found the stream below it, traversing Dry valley, called Lee's run, 
after John Lee, the first settler of the site of Winfield. 

Switzer run had an alias in 1769 — Lick run, probably after Peter 
Lick, who was .carried off by the Indians in 1755 ; but the interest 
felt in the mournful tragedy hereafter related substituted the name 
of Switzer for the name given it by the surveyors in 1769. 

White Deer creek is marked on Scull's map of 1 759 with the Indian 
name of Opaghtanoten, or White Flint creek. Tlie run entering 
the river on the late Samuel Henderson's place, in White Deer town- 
ship, was called by William Blythe, the first settler there, Red-Bank 
run; and the bottom above, between it and White Deer creek, 
had, before 1769, the name Turkey bottom, from the immense num- 
ber of wild turkeys haunting it. 

Dog run came in by the old Indian fort, which stood near New 
Columbia. Beaver run, in Buffalo township, had that name before 
1 769, from a large beaver dam near its mouth. Wilson's run, enter- 
ing at Lewisburg, had the name of Limestone run. White Springs 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



(at Barber's, in Limestone township) is so called in the return of 
a survey made by Colonel John Armstrong, in 1755. Laurel run 
had that name prior to 1773; and Spruce run is so called on Colonel 
Kelly's application for land upon it, dated nth June, 1769. 

The hills bounding the Valley on the south were called Shamokin, 
from the earliest times I find them mentioned ; of late years they 
have had the name of Chestnut Ridge. Nittany mountain had its 
name as early as 1768. Buffalo and White Deer mountains took 
their names from the respective creeks. Jack's mountain, extending 
from Centreville, Snyder county, to Scottsville, Huntingdon county, 
was so called from Jack Armstrong, an Indian trader, who was mur- 
dered in the narrows, in 1744, near Mt. Union. Pennsylvania 
Archives, second volume, 136. 

(1755.) The Mahany or Penn's Creek Massacre. 

Cumberland county was erected out of Lancaster, on the 27th of 
January, 1750, and was to embrace all the lands within the Province 
of Pennsylvania westward of the Susquehanna and north and west- 
ward of York county. The country was then purchased from the 
Indians as far north as the present southern line of Perry county. 
Nevertheless, settlers pushed on north of the boundary — the Kitta- 
tinny or Blue mountains. As early as 1753, at a council held at 
Carlisle, the Indians protested against the occupation of the country 
north of the line by the white settlers, and "wished the people 
called back from the ' Juniata ' lands until matters were settled between 
them and the French, lest damage should be done, and then the 
English would think ill of them." Then came the treaty of the 6th 
of July, 1754, at Albany, between the chiefs of the Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagos, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras, known as 
the Six Nations, and Thomas and Richard Penn, conveying that 
part of the Province west and south of a line commencing at the 
" Kittochtinny " or Blue hills, on the Susquehanna river, (a little 
south of where the southern line of Perry county now strikes the 
river ;) thence, by said river, to a point one mile above the mouth 
of a certain creek, called Kaarondinhah ; thence north-west and by 
west as far as the Province of Pennsylvania extends, to its western 
line or boundary, &c. On an old map I have, printed in 1771, this 



INTRODUCTION. 



line is marked running from a mile above Penn's creek, N. 45*^ 
W., crossing the river a little above the iiiouth of Sinnemahoning, 
and striking Lake Erie a few miles north of Presqu'Isle, (now 
Erie.) Wirtiin the Valley, it crossed Penn's creek, near New 
Berlin, the turnpike, near Ray's church, thence over Buffalo creek 
and mountain. 

The Indians alleged afterwards (see Weiser's journal of the con- 
ference at Aughwick, September, 1754) that they did not under- 
stand the points of the compass, and that if the line was so run as 
to include the West Branch of the Susquehanna, they would never 
agree to it. 

Settlers, nevertheless, pushed their way up along Penn's creek. 
George Gabriel had a house where Selinsgrove now stands as early 
as 1754, and Godfrey Fryer, John Young, George Linn, George 
Schnable, and others were in his immediate neighborhood. The 
Proprietaries, with their understandmg of the line, made surveys along 
Penn's creek, in Buffalo Valley, as early as the 13th of February, 
1755 ; and William Doran had an improvement where Jacob Shively 
now lives before that date. I have a copy of a survey General 
John Armstrong, then deputy under Nicholas Scull, made for Henry 
Nufer, adjoining Doran's, dated 13th February, 1755. 

The inhabitants along the creek in the Valley proper numbered 
twenty-five. Their names and their places of residence, for the most 
part, were obliterated with them. One John Turner had improved 
Esquire Lincoln's place. It appears by John Harris' ledger, pub- 
lished among "The Dauphin County Historical Contributions," 
that Turner sold his improvement to Harris, June 17, 1755. There 
was a settlement near Kaufman's grist-mill. A man by the name of 
Andrew Smith lived at White springs. Jacob LeRoy, or King, as 
he was called by the settlers, lived at the spring on the late Hon. Isaac 
Slenker's place, in Limestone township. There was a settlement on 
the New Berlin road, called for many years afterwards Breylinger's 
improvement, after the German killed there. The late Philip Pon- 
tius told me his grandfather had made an improvement at Cedar 
spring, his late residence, in 1755. 

(i 755-) Braddock's defeat (July 9) emboldened the Indians, and 
they determined to clear out all these settlements ; and they did it 
so effectually, that although, by the treaty of 1758, the western part 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



of the Valley became the Proprietaries, no settlers ventured upon 
the bloody ground until after the surveys of 1768. 

In October, 1755, the Indians came down upon the settlers. Two 
men were murdered within five miles of George Gabriel's, and four 
women carried off. The following cotemporary record tells the 
whole story. It is a petition, addressed to Robert Hunter Morris, 
then Governor under the Proprietaries : 

"We, the subscribers, living near the mouth of Penn's creek, on 
the west side of the Susquehanna, humbly show that, on or about 
the 1 6th October, the enemy came down upon said creek, killed, 
scalped, and carried away all the men. women, and children, amount- 
ing to twenty-five in number, and wounded one man, who, fortu- 
nately, made his escape, and brought us the news. Whereupon the 
subscribers went out and buried the dead. We found thirteen, who 
were men and elderly women, and one child, two weeks old; the 
rest being young women and children, we suppose to be carried 
away. The house (where we suppose they finished their murder,) we 
found burned up, the man of it, named Jacob King, a Swisser, lying 
just by it. He lay on his back, barbarously burned, and two toma- 
hawks sticking in his forehead ; one of them newly marked W. D. 
We have sent them to your Honor. The terror of which has drove 
away all the inhabitants except us. We are willing to stay, and 
defend the land, but need arms, ammunition, and assistance. With- 
out them, we must flee, and leave the country to the mercy of the 
enemy. 

George Glidwell, Jacob Simmons, 

George Auchmudy, Conrad Craymer, 

John McCahan, George Fry, 

Abraham Sowerkill, George Schnable, 

Edmund Matthews, George Aberhart, 

Mark Curry, Daniel Braugh, 

William Doran, George Linn, 

Dennis Mucklehenny, Godfrey Fryer. 

John Young, 
Jacob King, alias John Jacob LeRoy, was killed at the spring on 
the late Mr. Slenker's farm. He came over, in the ship Phoenix, 
from Rotterdam, arriving at Philadelphia, November 22, 1752, 
in the same vessel which brought over John Thomas Beck, grand- 



INTR OD UCTION. 



father of Doctor S. L. Beck, of Lewisburg. Rupp's Collection, 
page 225. 

In the third volume of the Pennsylvania Archives, on page 633, 
will be found the "Examination of Barbara Liningaree and Mary- 
Roy.' 1759- They say they were both inhabitants of this Province, 
and lived on John Penn's creek, near George Gabriel's; that on 
the 1 6th October, 1755, a party of fourteen Indians fell upon the 
inhabitants at that creek by surprise, and killed fifteen, and took and 
carried off prisoners examinants and eight more, viz ; Jacob Roy, 
brother of Mary Roy ; Rachel Liningaree, sister of Barbara ; Marian 
AVheeler; Hannah, wife of Jacob Breyhnger, and two of her child- 
ren, (one of which died at Kittanin' of hunger;) Peter Lick and 
two of his sons, named John and William. 

" The names of the Indians were Kech Kinnyperlin, Joseph Com- 
pass and young James Compass, young Thomas Hickman, one Kal- 
asquay, Souchy, Machynego, Katoochquay. These examinants were 
carried to the Indian town Kittanning, where they staid until Sep- 
tember, 1756, and were in ye fort opposite thereto when Colonel 
Armstrong burned it. Thence they were carried to Fort Duquesne, 
and many other women and children, they think an hundred, who 
were carried away from the several Provinces of Pennsylvania, 
Maryland and Virginia. They staid two months, and were carried to 
Saucang, twenty-five miles below, at the mouth of Big Beaver creek. 
In the spring of 1757 they were carried to the Kuskusky, up Beaver 
creek twenty-five miles, where they staid until they heard the Eng- 
lish were marching against Duquesne, and then the Indians quitted 
Kuskusky, and took these examinants with them to Muskingham, as 
they think, one hundred and fifty miles, On the i6th March made 
their escape, and got to Pittsburgh on the 31st." The date of this 
deposition is about May 6, 1759. 

There was a Catharine Smith among the prisoners re-captured by 
General Armstrong, September 8, 1756, at Kittanning, and brought 
back, said to have been taken from Shamokin ; but as her name is 
not mentioned above, it may be doubtful whether she was of the 
family of Andrew Smith, who lived at White springs. As the others 
were captives over four years, possibly they had forgotten her. 
Barbara Leininger was the name of the girl called Liningaree. The 
next place west of David Oldt, and about two miles below New 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Berlin, is called, in the old survey, " Breylinger's improvement," 
and was where Jacob Breylinger lived. Peter Lick, no doubt, lived 
on Lick run, or Switzer run, a short distance above New Berlin. 
A full narrative of Anne M. LeRoy and Barbara Leininger's adven- 
tures was published by Peter Miller, at Philadelphia, in 1759. ^ 
have had diligent search made for it, but without success. 

Anne M. LeRoy was living in Lancaster in 1764, when she made 
affidavit again in regard to her capture and the visits of the Cones- 
toga Indians to Kittanning. The only further trace of the LeRoy 
family that I can find is a recital in a deed, that on the 19th of 
October, 1772, John James LeRoy, the son, of Prince George 
county, Maryland, sold the LeRoy tract in Buffalo Valley to Andrew 
Pontius, of Tulpehocken. The latter was an uncle of the late Philip 
Pontius, of Buffalo, to whom I am indebted for several reminis- 
cences. He said, years afterward, when clearing up John Hoy's 
place, adjoining, they found several gold eagles, dropped, no doubt, 
by the Indians or their captives. This gave rise to rumors that money 
had been buried on the place. Many expeditions were made by 
night to dig for the treasure ; but, except a few sleeve buttons, noth- 
ing was ever found. From conversation with people of the neigh- 
borhood, I find the witch cloud still lingers about that fateful spring, 
although the wintry winds of more than a century have swept above 
it. Switzer run preserves the nationality of the first settler. It 
empties into Penn's creek, a short distance above New Berlin. 

Among the settlers on Middle creek, then called Christunn, I. 
D. Rupp informed me, was John Zehring, a relative of the Rupp 
family, who was driven off by this massacre. He is corroborated 
by a recital I find upon Zehring's warrant, dated November 12, 
1765, " for two hundred acres, including his improvement made in 
1755, from which he was driven off by the Indians, adjoining Chris- 
tunn or Middle creek." The Zehrings have still descendants there. 
Old Peter Decker married a Zehring, and Michael S. Decker, of 
Paxtonville, Snyder county, is of the family. 

(1756.) A sequence of the Penn's creek massacre was the building 
of Fort Augusta, (Sunbury,) at the then Indian town of Shamokin, 
in July, 1756. This was done with the consent and at the request 
of the Indians, from a well-grounded fear that the French meant to 
take possession of the place, and build a fort there. Among the 



INTRODUCTION. 13 



officers of Colonel Clapham's regiment, by whom the fort was built, 
I note the names of John Hambright and William Plunket, after- 
wards prominent in the political affairs of Northumberland county. 
G.eorge Gabriel and Joseph Greenwood, as appears by their auto- 
graphs to an affidavit before James Burd, Esquire, dated 2d June, 
1756, were sworn as guides to Colonel Clapham's regiment. 

Ensign Miles, afterward Colonel Samuel Miles, of the Revolution, 
and proprietor of Milesburg, in Centre county, who belonged to 
Colonel Clapham's regiment, in his manuscript journal says, "we 
marched up the west side of the Susquehanna, until we came oppo- 
site where the town of Sunbury now stands, where we crossed in 
batteaux, and I had the honor of being the first man who put his 
foot on shore at landing, In building the fort, Captain Levi Trump 
and myself, had charge of the workmen ; and after it was finished, 
our battalion remained there in garrison until the year 1758. In 
the summer of 1757, I was nearly taken prisoner by the Indians. 
At about one-half mile distance from the fort stood a large tree that 
bore excellent plums, on an open piece of ground, near what is 
now called the Bloody spring. Lieutenant Samuel Atlee and myself 
one day took a walk to this tree, to gather plums. While we were 
there, a party of Indians lay a short distance from us, concealed in 
the thicket, and had nearly got between us and the fort, when a 
soldier, belonging to the bullock guard not far from us, came to the 
spring to drink. The Indians were thereby in danger of being dis- 
covered; and, in consequence, fired at and killed the soldier, by 
which means we got off, and returned to the fort in much less time 
than we were in coming out." See Burd's journal, Pennsylvania 
Archives, second series, 745, for an interesting account of difficul- 
ties encountered in completing the fort. 

As it will be of interest to many to trace their ancestry as far 
backward in the history of the settlement of the Province as possible, 
I have collated from I. D. Rupp's histories and other sources all I 
could find in reference to the emigration and former settlement of 
the families of the Valley. 

(1723.) Among those who came from Albany, New York, with 
Conrad Weiser, and settled in Tulpehocken, now in Berks county, 
in the year 1723, occur the names of Henry Boyer, Philip Brown, 
Simon Bogenreif, George Christ, John A. Diffenbach, Jacob Fisher, 



14 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 

Jacob Follmer, Jacob Huffman, Peter Kephart, John Pontius, Leon- 
ard Rees, Henry Reidenbaugh, Adam Ream, John Spyker, Ulrich 
Schwartz, Adam Stein, Peter Sarvey, Mathias Shafer, Christopher 
Weiser. 

In the same year, there were already settled in Donegal township, 
Lancaster county, the Andersons, Campbells, Clarks, Cooks, Caro- 
thers, Ewings, Fosters, Howards, Kerrs, Kellys, Lowreys, Littles, 
Moores, McClellans, Pattersons, Semples, Scotts, Smiths, and 
Walkers, 

(1729, August.) Robert Barber, Esquire, ancestor of the Barber 
family, was the first sheriff of Lancaster county. The Wrights came 
from Lancastershire, England, in 1714. Settled at Columbia in 
1726, ^nd John Wright named Lancaster county from his old resi- 
dence. 

As early as 1735, the following families had settled in Lancaster 
county : the Allisons, Adams's, Alexanders, Bishops, Buchanans, 
Barretts, Bears, Blythes, Blacks, Douglass's, Daughertys, Greenes, 
Hustons, Hennings, Hendersons, Irwins, Ketlers, Keysers, Klings, 
Lowdons, Lynks, McClenahans, Murrays, Mitchells, Meixells, Mc- 
Phersons, McClures, Phillips's, Royers, Ramsays, Robinsons, Ranks, 
Ross's, Steeles, Saunders's, Thomas's, Wolf 's,"Wise's, Webbs, Wat- 
sons, Walters, and Walls. 

(1749, September 27.) Wendell Baker, ancestor of the Baker 
family, landed at Philadelphia. On the same vessel came John 
George Schnable, John Henry Beck, John Simon Shreiner, and R. 
Fries. 

(1750.) Among the dwellers in West Derry, Lancaster county, 
(now Dauphin,) were the Candors, ^Clarks, Chambers, Caldwells, 
Lairds, Morrisons, Ramseys, Shaws, and Thompsons. In East Derry, 
the Boyds, James Duncan, James Foster, John Foster, Hugh and 
Patrick Hayes, William Huston, John Moore, Orrs, William Wilson. 
In Paxton, West — Robert Correy, George Gabriel, George Gillespie, 
James Harris, Samuel Hunter, Thomas McCormick, James Mc- 
Knight, James Reed. South end — John Gray, John Johnston, Rich- 
ard McClure, John Morrison, John Wilson. Of the Narrows — the 
Armstrongs, Robert Clark, George Clark, William Foster, Thomas 
McKee. In Hanoverl— John Brown,7ames Finney, William Irwin, 
William Laird, Thomas McGuire, Robert Martin, George Miller, 



INTR OD UC TlO.y. 15 



Andrew Wallace, Samuel Young. In Hanover, East — John Craw- 
ford, John Graham, Robert Haslett, Adam Harper, Jacob Musser, 
Edward McMurray, and James Young. 

In Middleton township, Cumberland county, we find the names of 
William Armstrong, William Blythe, James Chambers, James Dun- 
lap, William Fleming, ^Andrew Gregg, James Henderson, Jonathan 
Holmes, William Jordan, John Kinkaid, Hugh Laird, John Robb, 
John Reed, Robert Reed, George Templeton. In Hopewell, Cum- 
berland also, were John Beatty, Robert Chambers, John Nesbit, 
Robert Simonton, William Thompson. In Logan township, now 
in Franklin county, were Isaac Grier, William Greenlee, Samuel Jor- 
dan, Samuel Laird, William Linn, senior, William Linn, junior. In 
Peters township, same county, John Potter, (father of the General) 
and Samuel Templeton. 

(1754.) In Bethel, the most remote north-west township in Berks 
county, we find, in 1754, George Boeshor, George Emerick, Michael 
Grove, George Grove, Nicholas Pontius, George /^^eninger, Jacob 
Leininger, Jacob Seirer, Ulrich Seltzer, Baltzer Smith, Michael 
Weyland. 

(1756.) In Cumru township, occur the names of George Engle- 
hart, George Ream, Andrew Wolf, &c. In Exeter, the same year, 
the names of John Aurand, William Boone, Peter Boechtel, Leonard 
High, Fredrick Kunkle, Mordecai Lincojnj Michael Ludwig, Peter 
Noll, Peter Smith, Jacob Yoder. In Greenwich, same year, John C. 
Baum, Henry Faust, Michael Gotshall, Peter Leonard, Michael 
Leiby, jSIichael Lesher, Michael Smith. In Heidelberg, same year, 
George Aumiller, Peter Betz, Peter Bolender, Philip Bower, Henry 
Christ, Ludwig Derr, Andrew Ruhl, George Rorabaugh, Frederick 
Stump, Jacob Wetzel. In the docket of Peter Spyker, Esquire, 
Tulpehocken, 1756, we find, among the names of referees, John 
George Anspach, Henry Bogenreif, George Christ, Peter Gebhart, 
John Heberling, Henry Hetzel, Peter Kaufman, Jacob Lutz, Jacob 
Miller, Nicholas Pontius, Nicholas Reed, William Spotts, Adam 
Smith, Martin Trester, Nicholas Wolf, Peter Winkleplecht, Jacob 
Zerbe. He records that Adam Guyer was bound to learn the shoe- 
maker's trade, (a trade the same family, to my knowledge, followed 
a hundred years.) John George Wolfe also bound to Jacob Follmer, 
for thirteen years, &c. 



it ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 

(i 757.) In Maiden Creek township, occur the names of the Dun- 
kels and Hoys. In Maxatawney, John Bear, Andrew Boahch, 
John Frederick, Joseph Gross, Samuel Guilden, Samuel High, Jacob 
Kaufman, Henry Lutz. In Oley, John Yoder. In Rockland, John 
Albright, George Angstadt, Lewis Bitting, Peter Keiffer, John Moil, 
Henry Mertz. Windsor — Mathias Alspach, Killian Dunkel, Jacob 
Hummel, John Hess, Conrad Heiser, Wendell Keiffer, Jacob Roush 
Michael Rentchler, Leonard Reber. October 16, 1768, came over 
in the same vessel Michael Beeber, Valentine Beeber, (grandfather of 
John Beeber, late of Lewisburg, deceased, to whose accurate mem- 
ory I am indebted for many dates and incidents,) Andrew Hauck, 
and John Peter Frick. More than a century has elapsed, and their 
descendants are still within an hour's ride of each other. 

(i 758.) The south-western portion of Buffalo Valley was included 
in the purchase from the Six Nations, made at Easton, Pennsylvania, 
on the 23d of October, 1758, with the bounds of which they de- 
clared themselves perfectly satisfied. I copy the boundary line from 
the original deed in the Executive Chamber, at Harrisburg : " Begin- 
ning at the Kittachtinny or Blue hills, on the west bank of the river 
Susquehannah, and running thence up the said river, binding there- 
with, to a mile above the mouth of a creek called Kaarondinhah, (or 
John Penn's creek;) thence north-west and by west to a creek called 
Buffalo creek; thence west to the east side of the Allegany or Appa- 
lachian hills; thence, along the east side of the said hills, binding 
therewith, to the south line or boundary of the said Province ; thence, 
by the said south line or boundary, to the south side of the Kit- 
tachtinny hills; thence, by the south side of the said hills, to the 
place of beginning." 

The change of boundary from that of the deed of 1754, it will be 
observed, excluded all the territory subsequently included in the 
purchases of 1768 and 1784, or more than one half of the State as 
now constituted. To localize and modernize the change and new 
boundary, it excluded more than the one half of the territory of 
Union county as at present constituted. The boundary, instead of 
running north-west to Lake Erie, stopped at Buffalo creek, near 
where Orwig's mill now stands, in Lewis township, and thence ran 
directly west, or nearly so, to the junction of Spring creek with Bald 
Eagle, now Milesburg; thence south-westerly to what is now the 



INTRODUCTION. 17 



north-east corner of Cambria ; thence along the west side of Blair and 
Bedford, terminating at the Maryland line, between the boundaries 
of Bedford and Somerset counties. 

This line was never run, nor were there any official surveys made 
quite near it until six years afterwards. So cautious were the Pro- 
prietaries at this period of offending the Indians by making surveys 
beyond the lines, that the most positive instructions were given on 
this head, and the west end of Nittany mountains, Lamont now, 
appeared to have been assumed as the most northerly and westerly 
station. Its assumed locality, however, marked the boundary between 
Cumberland and Berks counties, which can still be identified upon 
the ground. As, for instance, a little distance north of Ray's church, 
on the turnpike, on or near the boundary line of Benjamin and Abra- 
ham Mench's, stood, and probably stands yet, a black oak, common 
corner of the Little, Templeton, Mackamiss, and David Johnston's 
surveys of 1769. The course of the south-western line of the latter 
survey being N. 57° W., that of the county or Indian line N. 45° 
W., left a little corner of the David Johnston, a Berks county survey, 
in Cumberland county, and it was not cleared for many years, under 
the supposition that it could not be held by the David Johnston 
warrant, not being in Berks county. 

The north-east corner of this purchase was, no doubt, made one 
mile above the mouth of Penn's creek, in order to include Gabriel's 
improvement, on the spot where SeHnsgrove now stands. Other- 
wise, what more natural course than to stop opposite the mouth of 
Mahanoy creek, the north-western corner of the purchase of 1749,^ 
now Port Trevorton. 

A line of marked trees was made by George Gabriel and the 
Indians, from a Spanish oak standing on the river bank, which, in 
1766, when William Maclay ran the John Cox survey, stood two 
hundred and ninety-two perches above the mouth of Penn's creek, 
to a black oak on Penn's creek, about one mile up Penn's creek, 
near App's grist-mill, (corner of Henry Clirist and Adam Ewig sur->^ 
veys.) Their line, being made without a compass, ran west, instead 
of N. 45° W., or rather N. 49° W., as Mr. Maclay made the bound- 
ary line between the two purchases in 1768. Gabriel settled on the 
site of Selinsgrove in 1754. His location was surveyed to John 
Cox, by Mr. Maclay, on the 15th of May, 1766; but Mr. Maclay 
2 



iS ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 

notes on his return to the Cox warrant that Gabriel had made a 
settlement and improvement upon it at least ten years ago, and that 
he then lived on and claimed the property, and his pretensions must 
be satisfied by Mr. Cox before the return could be accepted. In 
quite a number of surveys this line of marked trees is alluded to ; 
and Its western terminus, on Penn's creek, was identified, on the 
25th of October, 1765, by William Maclay, when he surveyed the 
"Henry Christ" tract, (lately owned by Leonard App,) at the 
lack oak, which, he says, "was made a corner of the purchased 
lands by Gabriel and the Indians, say both Weiser and Gabriel." 

The line of this purchase of 1758 was the line between Cumber- 
land and Berks counties, within Buffalo Valley, until the erection of 
Northumberland county, out of Berks and other counties, in 1772, 
(when Mahantango creek became the north line of Cumberland.) 
This line, as stated, ran from a black oak that stood on the bank of 
the West Branch of the Susquehanna river, one mile above the 
mouth of Penn's creek, N. 45° W., to Buffalo creek, near what is 
now Orwig's mill, in Lewis township ; thence directly west. The 
settlers north of this line were assessed in Berks county, and repaired 
to Reading to attend court ; those south of that line were assessed 
in Penn township, Cumberland county, and attended the sessions 
at Carlisle. From 1772, Sunbury attracts attention as the seat of 
justice for the people of the Valley, until the erection of Union 
county, March 22, 181 3 — a period of forty-one years, to a day — 
when New Berlin became the county seat, holding it for forty-two 
years; when, (March 2, 1855,) by the erection of Snyder county 
out of Union, Lewisburg became the political center of the terri- 
tory within the immediate scope of these Annals. 

(i 760.) A letter from Governor James Hamilton, dated November 
15, 1760, to Richard Peters, Esquire, incloses a rough draft, show- 
ing the mountains north of the Valley, Buffalo creek, Penn's creek, 
the North and West Branches, and main river down to Gabriel's, 
(whose place is marked at the mouth of Penn's creek,) Shamokin 
creek, Shamokin marked between it and the North Branch and Chil- 
lisquaque creek. The space included within a dotted line running 
from the mouth of Buffalo creek down to a point opposite the mouth 
of the Chillisquaque, thence in a semi-circle to a point on Buffalo 
creek, six or eight miles above its mouth, is marked " Manor." 



INTR OD UCTION. 79 



The letter states : ' ' Abel James and two others of the Friendly 
Association have been with me, and delivered me the inclosed plot 
of lands about Shamokin, and particularly of the Manor, which, by 
Job Chillaway's information and description, they suppose John 
Armstrong to have lately surveyed, and at which they are in fear the 
Indians will take offense. I told them I was entirely ignorant of it, 
as I supposed you to be, from what you said to me yesterday, but 
that I would order an inquiry to be made. I, therefore, desire that 
you will immediately write to Mr. Armstrong, and know from him 
what truth there is in all this, what it is he has actually been doing 
in that part of the country, and by what authority, and require his 
answer as soon as possible. 

" I think it also advisable that you should see Teedyuscung before 
he leaves town, apprise him of this report, and satisfy him that 
nothing is intended to the prejudice of the Indians with respect to 
lands, lest, hearing it from other hands on his return, it may make 
impressions on him and other Indians to our disadvantage." 

Mr. Peters wrote Mr. Armstrong, Philadelphia, 1 7th November, 
1760 : 

' ' Sir : Inclosed is a letter I received from the Governor, with a 
draught of a pretended survey delivered to him by the clerk of the 
Association of Friends for Indian Affairs, who said that John Chilla- 
way, the Indian, who was with you, complained that the lines run 
into the land not yet granted by the Indians. 

"Be pleased to send to- the Governor a letter fully explaining 
this affair, in order to obviate any complaints that may be made, 
and make no delay. 

"It is proposed that the west line, which is the boundary in the 
proprietary release executed at Easton, shall be run by the surveyors 
on behalf of the Proprietaries, and by a deputation of Indians, to be 
appointed at the next public Indian treaty, to be held in this city, 
in the spring." 

The above allusion to Teedyuscung will be understood from the 
following information, taken from " The Memorials of the Moravian 
Church," edited by the late Reverend William C. Reichel, a thorough 
investigator and the best authority upon the history of the Indians 
who resided within o.ur state ■} 

' Reverend William O. Reichel born at Salem, North Carolina, died at Bethlehem, 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



The Lenape or Delawares, although under the power of the Six 
Nations, had their own king. Allummapees held this position as early 
as 1 718, and as the purchases of the Proprietaries forced the with- 
drawal of the tribes from the Delaware, he removed, in 1728, from 
on the Delaware to Shamokin, "which is eighty miles from Tulpe- 
hocken, and the residence of the king (Allummapees) of the Dela- 
wares, and of the Oneida (Shikellimy) viceroy. The latter virtually 
maintains the balance of power between the different tribes and be- 
tween the Indians and the whites, acting as agent for the Iroquois 
confederacy in all affairs of state and war.." — Zinzendorf's Narrative, 
dated at Shamokin, September 29, 1742, Reichel, page 67. (The 
year 1728 is, no doubt, the date of the withdrawal of the Muncys, 
"who were proverbially impatient of the white man's presence in 
the Indian country," from Buffalo Valley, and their removal to the 
head waters of the Allegheny, succeeded by the straggling Shaw- 
anese.) In July, 1739, Richard Penn treated with deputies of " the 
Shawanese, scattered far abroad from the Great Island to the Alle- 
gheny." 

In June, 1746, Weiser writes that Allummapees has no successor 
of his relatives, and will hear of none as long as he is alive. Shi- 
kellimy advises that the Government should name a successor, aiid 
set him up by their authority \ that he has lost his senses, and is in- 
capable of doing anything. Allummapees is dead, writes Weiser to 
Peters, in 1747. Lapappiton is allowed to be the fittest to succeed 
him, but he declines. Finally, Teedyuscung was made king of the 
Delawares, in the spring of 1756. He had his headquarters in 
ly^y-g, at Teedyuscung's town, (a little below the site of Wilkes- 
Barre,) marked Wioming on Scull's map of 1759. Here he was 
burned in his lodge, on the night of the 19th of April, 1 763, and hence 
the Delawares fled, in October of the same year, after having struck 
the last blow for the possession of the " Great Plains," on the 15th 
of the month, when they fell upon the Connecticut settlers. 

Reichel differs from Loskiel as to the date, before quoted, of Shi- 
kelhmy's death, and places it on the 17th of December, 1748, and 
adds, that his son Logan, returned home from a far off journey sev- 

Pennsylvania, Wednesday, October 25, 1878, Atat 53. "Murmuring of the Rock of 
Ages, he passed away quietly as an infant falls asleep." He was professor in the 
Moravian Theological Seminary, a ripe scholar, an indefatigable student, and, in the 
language of John Jordan, junior, Esquire, his decease an irreparable loss. 



INTR OD UCTION. 



eral days after his decease, to weep over the Hfeless body of a parent 
he so much esteemed. The brethren, Zeisberger and Henry Fry, 
made him a coffin, and the Indians having painted the corpse in gay 
colors, and decked it witli the choicest ornaments, carried the re- 
mains of their honored chieftain to the burial place of his fathers, 
on the banks of the "winding river." He was succeeded in his 
vicegerency by his eldest son, Tachnachdoarus, " a spreading oak," 
alias John Shikellimy. His second son was James Logan, named 
for Secretary Logan, of Germantown. Logan was lame. John 
Petty was the youngest of the three brothers, and bore the name of 
an Indian trader. 





AMALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



1^6 




Penn Township Settlers — William G-ill — Murder of White Mingo — 
William Blythe — Purchase of 1768. 

HE following list of inhabitants of Penn township, Cum- 
berland county, is taken from the original assessments 
at Carlisle, Penn township then embracing nearly all of 
what is now Snyder county : John xA.umiller, Philip Au- 
miller, William Blythe, Jacob Carpenter, George Drowner, Adam 
Ewig, George Gabriel, Jacob Hammersly, John Lee, Arthur Moody, 
Michael Regar, George Rine, John Reighbough, junior and senior, 
Michael Rodman, Casper Reed, Frederick Stump, (who is taxed 
with one negro,) Peter Straub, Adam Stephen, and Andrew Shafer. 
The freemen are John McCormick, William Gill, Edward Lee, and 
Joseph Reynolds. 

Of these early settlers I can fix the locality of but few. Wil- 
liam Blythe lived at the mouth of Middle creek ; Adam Ewig on the 
creek just above App's mill; George Gabriel on the site of Selins- 
grove ; Frederick Stump where Middleburg now stands ; Peter 
Straub at Straubstown ; William Gill on Tuscarora creek, not far 
from New Berlin. The latter came originally from Bucks county. 
Belonging to a regiment in Forbes' campaign, he was wounded in 
the leg in Grant's defeat, September 14, 1758, or in the attack on 

23 



24 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1768. 

Bouquet's camp, at Loyalhanna, and made for home, through the 
woods, with a bullet in his leg. He lived mostly on wild grass on 
the way. Reaching Penn's creek, he stopped, married a German 
woman there, and settled. He served in Captain Clarke's company 
the winter of 1776-7, and when, during the war of 181 2, one of 
his sons was drafted, and for some reason could not go, the old 
man went with him to Sunbury, and asked to be substituted for his 
son. The board rewarded his patriotism by discharging his son. 
He died in Beaver township, about the year 1820, leaving a large 
family of boys. His grandson Jacob was a member of Captain 
Middleswarth's company, in 1814, and now resides about two miles 
from Bellefonte, (1877.) I am indebted for these facts to William 
Gill, nephew of William, senior, who at the advanced age of ninety 
years, had a remarkable recollection of dates and events, which I 
have frequently verified by old papers and assessments. He died 
at Bellefonte, November 21, 1876. 

Murder of White Mingo. 

Sunday, loth of January, occurred the murder of White Mingo 
and five other Indians, by Frederick Stump. The information of 
William Blythe, made at Philadelphia, on the 19th of January, 
is in substance, that, hearing of the murder, he went to George 
Gabriel's, where he met Stump and several others, on the 12 th, and 
was then told by Stump himself that six Indians, White Mingo, Cor- 
nelius, John Campbell, Jones, and two women, came to his house, 
near the mouth of Middle creek. Being drunk and disorderly, he 
endeavored to get them to leave, which they would not do. Fear- 
ing injury to himself, he killed them all, dragged them to the 
creek, and making a hole in the ice, threw in their bodies. Then 
fearing the news might be carried to the other Indians, he went the 
next day to two cabins, fourteen miles up the creek, where he found 
one woman and two girls, with one child. These he killed, and 
putting their bodies into the cabin, he burned it. That he (Blythe) 
sent four men up the creek, who reported that they had found the 
cabins burned, and the remains of the limbs of the Indians in the 
ashes. The scene of the latter deed was on the run that enters the 
creek at Middleburg, which goes by the name of Stump's run to this 



1768.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 25 

day. Stump and his companion, Iron-Cutter, were arrested at 
Gabriel's, and taken to Carlisle jail. They were forcibly rescued on 
the 29th, were concealed about Fort Augusta a few days, and then 
fled the country. Tradition has it, that Stump died in Virginia, 
many years afterwards. 

For William Blythe's services in this matter, he received the two 
tracts of land which were surveyed on applications in the names of 
his daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth, containing, together, six 
hundred and forty acres, lying immediately south of White Deer 
creek, whither he removed during the year, and was, therefore, one 
of the first settlers of Buffalo Valley after the purchase. He was an 
Indian trader at Shippensburg in 1748, and a lieutenant in the 
French war, 1758. 

His cabin stood on Red-Bank run, near the river, on the Eliza- 
beth Blythe tract, below the late Samuel Henderson's house. Her 
application of 3d April, 1 769, describes it as including an old Indian 
fort and a settlement begun by her. William Blythe lived to be a 
very old man. Roley McCorley informed me he knew him well, 
and that he was a tall, raw-boned man, and, in latter years, quite 
blind. 

His daughter Margaret married Captain John Reed, who had 
commanded the " Paxton Boys." Her tract was patented to Cap- 
tain Reed in 1774. Her children by Captain Reed were William, 
(father of James Reed, who still resides near Hartleton, and grand- 
father of Doctor Uriah Reed, of Jersey Shore, and of Robert Reed, 
now of Clearfield, Pennsylvania,) James, who moved west, and 
Elizabeth, who married John Armstrong. Captain Reed died before 
1778, and, with '-'the Runaway" of that year, the Reeds went to 
Cumberland county. William Reed's family remained there until 
some years after, when he came up and settled in Hartley township. 
Captain Reed's widow married Captain Charles Gillespie, an officer 
of the Revolution, and raised a second family — Edward Gillespie, 
Susanna, (married to Arthur Thomas,) Eleanor, Charles, junior, 
Thomas, and John. By a division of the place, the lower half, one 
hundred and seventy-six acres, fell to Charles Gillespie and wife, the 
upper to the Reeds, who conveyed it, on the 6th of May, 1796, to 
Gillespie and wife. The Gillespies all went west, except Edward, 
who hung himself, many years ago, at the old homestead, which 



26 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1768. 

passed into the hands of the late Daniel Ludwig, Esquire. Marga- 
ret Blythe survived the fortunes of her second family, and took 
refuge with her first husband's children. She died at her son's, Wil- 
liam Reed, in Hartley township, and her remains were interred in 
the graveyard at Kester's school-house. 

Elizabeth Blythe married Doctor Joseph Eakers, who had been a 
surgeon in the revolutionary army. ^ In October, 1798, they sold 
the place to James Hepburn, and went West, where she died. The 
Doctor returned, resumed practice, and was drowned in Muddy 
run, above Milton, many years ago. 

5 th November. Thomas and Richard Penn purchased from the 
Six Nations, at Fort Stanwix, (now Rome, New York,) the remain- 
der of the Valley whose annals we are writing. As one of the 
incentives to this purchase, I may state that, as early as the year 
1764, the officers of the first and second battalions who served under 
Colonel Bouquet, made an agreement with each other, in writing, 
at Bedford, ' ' that they would apply to the Proprietaries for a tract 
of land sufficiently extensive and conveniently situated, whereon to 
erect a compact and defensible town ; and, also, to accommodate 
each of us with a reasonable and commodious plantation ; which 
land and lots of ground, if obtained, we do agree shall be propor- 
tionably divided, according to our several ranks and subscriptions," 
&c. Signed by Lieutenant Colonels Turbutt Francis and Asher 
Clayton, Major John P. deHaas, Captains Jacob Kern, John Proc- 
ter, James Hendricks, John Brady, William Piper, Timothy Green, 
Samuel Hunter ; Henry Watson, adjutant first battalion ; Conrad 
Bucher, adjutant second battalion ; William Plunket and James 
Irvine, captains ; Lieutenant Daniel Hunsicker ; Ensigns McMeen 
and Piper, et al. They appointed Colonel Francis, Captain Irvine, 
&c. , commissioners to act for all the officers. These commissioners 
made an application to the Proprietaries on the 30th of April, 1765, 
in which they proposed to embody themselves in a compact settle- 
ment, on some good land, at some distance from the inhabited part 
of the Province, where, by their industry, they might procure a 
comfortable subsistence for themselves, and by their arms, union, 
and increase, become a powerful barrier to the Province. They 

'In a petition to the Executive Oouncil, dated February 15, 1779, he states that 
he had been a long time surgeon's mate in the hospital department. 



1769.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 21 

further represented that the land already purchased did not afford 
any situation convenient for their purpose ; but the confluence of 
the two branches of the Susquehanna at Shamokin did, and they, 
therefore, prayed the Proprietaries to make the purchase, and make 
them a grant of forty thousand acres of arable land on the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna. Lieutenant Thomas Wiggins and En- 
sign J. Foster, who were absent from Bedford when the agreement 
was signed, were subsequently admitted into the association. The 
minutes of the association are published in full in the first volume 
of the Collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 



1*^69. 




Officials — First Surveys in the Valley — John Ewing, et al. — Officers' 
Surveys — Original Settlers. 

OVERNOR, JOHN PENN. Representative of Berks, 
Edward Biddle; Sheriff, Jacob Shoemaker. 

Representatives of Cumberland, William Allen and 
John Montgomery; Sheriff, David Hoge; Prothono- 
tary, Hermanns Alricks. 

On the 3d of February, the commissioners of the officers of the 
first and second battalions met at the Governor's, and obtained an 
order allowing them to take up twenty-four thousand acres, to be 
divided among them in distinct surveys, on the waters of the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna, each three hundred acres to be seated 
with a family within two years from the time of survey, paying ^5 
sterling per hundred, and one penny per acre, &c. The names of 
the officers in whose favor the order of survey issued were Colonel 
Francis, Major deHaas, Captains Irvine, Plunket, Hunter, Kern, 
Green, Houssegger, Sems, Hendricks, Brady, Piper, Bucher, Lieu- 
tenants, Stewart, Wiggins, Hays, Nice, Hunsicker, Askey, McAl- 



28 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1769. 

lister, Ensigns Piper, McMeen, Morrow, Steine, and Foster; and 
the order signed by John Lukens, surveyor general, and directed to 
William Scull and William Maclay. 

By advertisement, dated the 23d of February, the land office was to 
open to receive applications for lands in the "New Purchase," on 
the 3d of April. "So long a day was fixed to give the back in- 
habitants time to repair to the office." Meanwhile surveys were 
made on special orders for the Proprietaries or their friends. 

On the 1 8th of February, William Maclay made the first survey 
in person on the west side of the river. His field notes are yet pre- 
served among the records of the deputy surveyor's office of Union 
county. He began at a black oak on the river, afterwards the south- 
east corner of the Richard Manning tract, and ran S. 60° W. 70, 
W. 212, S. 45° W. 755, S. 49° E. 295, to the black oak or Spanish 
oak on the river, on the line of the purchase or Gabriel's land; thence 
up the river N. t,6° E. 51, N. 45° E. 2331^, N. 39° E. 462, and N. 
26^° E. 220, to the place of beginning. He says this survey is of 
land above George Gabriel's, for which Andrew Allen has a warrant, 
and on which Charles Willing intends an old right of five hun- 
dred acres, "neither of which are in my hands yet." The next day, 
Sunday, the 19th, he says he received from Colonel Francis the 
Charles Willing location. The caveat, Willing vs. Allen, was de- 
termined on the 2ist of December, 1772, by the board of property. 
Present, Mr. Tilghman, Hockley, Physick, and Lukens. "That the 
location on the warrant of Charles Willing (which bore date the 24th 
December, 1768) is such an appropriation of five hundred acres 
and allowance, that it was not liable to the Proprietaries' warrant," 
and they directed the surveyor general to divide the land by a line 
N. 49° W. from the river, so as to leave five hundred acres of the 
lower end to be returned for Willing. This division line is about 
where the present road running west from Hettrick's store, in Mon- 
roe township, Snyder county, is laid. 

The distance of the river line of the John Cox survey, (which in- 
cluded Gabriel's settlement,) from the mouth of Penn's creek to the 
Indian line, was two hundred and ninty-two perches ; of the Richard 
Willing, from the black oak or Spanish oak, marked by Gabriel and 
the Indians, to a white oak, which stood on the river bank near Het- 
trick's store, was two hundred and ninty-five and one half perches. 



1769.] ANN.4LS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2g. 

The Andrew Allen reached thence six hundred and seventy-one 
perches, to a black oak which stood below the Sunbury ferry, nearly 
opposite the old tavern. The Richard Manning survey (made in 
1 7 70) extended up one hundred and fifty perches to a maple, where 
began the John Galloway, which ran up three hundred and forty- 
eight perches, to the confluence of the West Branch. I will here 
add, as having interest upon the question of the location of Fort 
Augusta, that a topographical survey found among the same papers 
of this date, has a station on the mouth of the little stream that enters 
the river below the present bridge. The course to the main point is 
N. 27° E. and S. 5314° E. to the " redoubt at Fort Augusta." 

The survey next above the " Galloway," is the Daniel Hoffman, 
(181 4,) extending one hundred and eighteen perches; then comes 
the Joshua McAfee, (the John Mason place,) surveyed in 1771, 
extending up sixty-eight perches, and we are in Buffalo Valley. 

2 2d February, the Reverend John EAving's survey was made; 
the first in the Valley. It extends from the mouth of Buffalo creek, 
six hundred and seventy-five perches, to a walnut that formerly 
stood on Doctor Dougal's line. Mr. Maclay's starting point for 
this survey was sixty or seventy rods above the present site of the 
iron bridge across Buffalo creek. This survey contained eleven hun- 
dred and fifty acres. 

24th February, Mr. Tvlaclay surveyed the Bremmer tract for 
John Penn. He notes in his field-book the fine spring at late An- 
drew Wolfe's, the one on the Cameron farm, and the one at Ellis 
Brown's, and leaves out "the pine barrens," as he calls the present 
Linn place. This tract contained one thousand four hundred and 
thirty-four acres, and was called the " fiddler's tract," tradition said, 
because given a fiddler for one night's performance on the violin. 
Bremn^r was a music dealer in the Strand, London, and was, per- 
haps, a fiddler by occupation. 

28th February, the site of Lewisburg was surveyed for the Pro- 
prietaries, by Mr. Maclay, commencing at a white oak, at the 
present Strohecker's landing. At sixty-eight perches he notes the 
spring now belonging to the University grounds. This line he makes 
one mile long, to the mouth of Buffalo creek ; he then ran up the 
creek to a hickory that stood where the present road reaches the 
creek at the iron bridge ; thence he ran due south, two hundred and 



-30 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1769. 

eight perches, to a pine, the stump of which was dug up when the 
raihoad excavation was made north of the Eighth Street school-build- 
ing ; (it stood some eight feet inside of Jacob Derr's fence ;) thence 
he ran S. 50° E., two hundred and ninety-eight perches, to the river. 
Several of the latter line trees stand near the cemetery. These lines 
now mark the limits of the borough, with the exception of the Jacob 
Spidler place, which was taken out of the borough many years ago 
by act of the Legislature. 

In the latter part of February many of the officers of the first and 
second battalions met at Fort Augusta, and agreed to take the land 
upon the terms proposed by the Proprietaries, and that one of the 
tracts should be surveyed on the West Branch, adjoining Montour's 
place, (Chillisquaque creek,) and one in Buffalo Valley. In order to 
expedite business, it was agreed that Captains Plunket, Brady, 
Piper, and Lieutenant Askey, should go along with Mr. Maclay to 
Buffalo Valley, and Captains Hunter and Irvine with Mr. Scull, to 
direct the survey in the Forks. 

On the ist, 2d, and 3d of March, Samuel Maclay, for William, ran 
out the officers' survey. He commenced at a white oak on now 
William Spotts' land, at the east of the Limestone ridge, and ran 
west and south-west to the east line of what is now William Young's 
land, in Lewis township. The western line he ran N. 318 to Buffalo 
creek ; thence he ran north of the present turnpike, until he crossed 
its site a little east of Vicksburg, and came back to a white oak, yet 
standing, one hundred and twenty-five rods east of where Salem 
church is now ; thence he ran south to an elm on Turtle creek, and 
west and south-west to the place of beginning. This survey em- 
braced the heart of Buffalo Valley, and, as their minutes say, ' ' was 
made without opposition ; " and the officers returned to Fort Augusta, 
held a meeting, and determined that the third tract of eight thou- 
sand acres should be surveyed on Bald Eagle creek. Captains 
Hunter, "Brady, and Piper were appointed to over-see that survey, 
to be made by Charles Lukens. The record says that Colonel 
Francis, Doctor Plunket, and Major deHaas, furnished the stores 
on the present occasion. 

1 6th May, The officers met at Harris' Ferry. Messrs. Maclay, 
Scull, and Lukens laid before them the drafts of their respective sur- 
veys. Mr. Maclay reported the tract surveyed by him in Buffalo 



1769.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 31 

Valley contained eight thousand acres ; Mr. Scull that in the Forks, 
six thousand and ninety-six, which left nine thousand nine hundred 
and four for Bald Eagle creek, and Mr. Lukens' survey was several 
thousand acres short of the quantity. They agreed then that Colonel 
Francis should receive his share, two thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-five acres, surveyed to him in one tract, adjoining the tract 
purchased by him of Montour. Colonel Francis' tract accordingly 
extended from Chillisquaque creek down to and included Northum- 
berland point. Boyd and Wilson purchased of him, and erected 
the mill at the mouth of Chillisquaque creek, in 1791, and John 
Lowdon bought the site of Northumberland town from Colonel 
Francis, and it was patented to his wife, Sarah Lowdon, 7th July, 
1770. Same day, i6th of May, lots were drawn for the choice of 
lands. Captain Hendricks, having won the first choice, took the 
eastern end of Buffalo Valley survey, now the Zellers, Aurands, &c., 
farms. Captain William Plunket then chose the Dreisbach place, 
site of the church, &c. Captain Brady the Maclay place afterwards, 
now Joseph Green's, William Cameron, Esquire's, &c. Captain 
Kern next took the site of Vicksburg. Lieutenant Doctor Thomas 
Wiggins got three hundred and thirty-nine acres. Doctor Wiggins 
resided in Lower Paxton township, now Dauphin county. By his 
will, proved August 31, 1798, he devised to his brother, John Wig- 
gins, his land in Northumberland county ; and by the will of John 
Wiggins, second, proved November 30, he devises it to John and 
James Wiggins Simonton, each one hundred and ten acres. Hon- 
orable John W. Simonton many years associate judge of Union 
county, still owns this military fief. Reverend Captain Conrad 
Bucher secured the tract now owned by the Pontius's ; Captain 
Timothy Green the site of the Rockey mill ; Lieutenant Askey the 
site of Mifflinburg ; Captain Irvine the place so long owned by the 
Kleckners ; Lieutenant Stewart the old Foster place ; and Lieuten- 
ant McAllister the old John Hayes place. Captains Plunket and 
Brady superintended the running of the division lines, which was 
accomplished by Samuel Maclay, on the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th 
of May. 

The John Ewing survey was made on the 3d of March, extend- 
ing from the east line of the officers' survey, down Turtle creek, to 



32 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1769 

the Gundy farm. These are the leading surveys, run with astonish- 
ing accuracy, and well marked all around. 

The John Harris surveys, from Jacob M. Shively's, near White 
spring, up to and including Esquire Lincoln's farm, were also upon 
special warrants, before the opening of the land office. They were 
made on the 23d of February. The walnut, the beginning point, 
stood on Penn's creek, below the mouth of White Spring run. 
John Harris had bought, as stated before, the improvement made 
by Turner in 1755. He also owned the Edward Lee, the White 
Spring tract, the improvement title of which also dated back to 
1755 ; both re-surveyed, however, by Mr. Maclay, in February, 1769. 
He was the father-in-law of William Maclay, and was favored by 
the Proprietaries in consequence of his services with the Indians. 

On the 3d of April the land office was opened, and a great crowd 
attended. Numerous applications or locations, as they were called, 
were received for the same spots of land, from different persons, 
under various or similar descriptions. The method taken to decide 
the preference was to put them all into a trunk, and after mixing them 
well together, an indifferent person drew them out, and they were 
numbered in the order of drawing, priority thus being determined 
by lottery. To illustrate by example : there were numerous applica- 
tions for the old Muncy town or Shikellimy's town tract. Michael 
Weyland's was the thirty-second application drawn, and so numbered, 
and put down on the list. Any subsequent application descriptive of 
the same locality was, when opened and read, laid aside. Jacob 
Weyland's application for land, ''on a run of water adjoining 
Michael Weyland's at Shikellimy's town," was the sixth drawn. John 
Grove now owns part of that warrantee tract. Dietrick Rees' appli- 
cation for land, "on a run below Dog run, adjoining land of Lud- 
wig Derr, in Walnut bottom," came out the eighth. It embraces 
New Columbia, and the land north and west of it. Derr seems to 
have marked out a claim for himself, near New Columbia, before 
the drawing, which he failed to get. 

In August, the greater part of the surveys on the north side of Buf- 
falo creek were made, from Colonel Slifer's place up to Farmersville, 
together with most of the surveys in Buffalo and the Lowdon sur- 
veys in West Buffalo. Those along the river, down to Turtle creek, 
also in August. From thence to the county line below, in October. 



1769.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 33 

The surveys from Doctor Dougal's place up to the mouth of White 
Deer creek, along the river, were made by Charles Lukens, in October. 
He speaks in his field notes of Ludwig Derr being with him. Along 
Penn's creek, above and including the mouth of Switzer run, the sur- 
veys were made in August. In November, William Maclay made sur- 
veys of some of the best land in the Valley, including Ray's church, 
John and Isaac Reish's land, in which he was interested. Colonel 
Kelly's tracts were also surveyed in August. In December, Samuel 
Maclay surveyed the lands in Dry valley, now owned by Isaac Eyer, 
David Gross, &c. 

The settlers this year, as far as I can ascertain them, were John Lee, 
at the spring near the stone barn at Winfield ; John Beatty, at the 
spring near New Berlin; Jacob Grozean, near Hoffa's mill; Barney 
Parson, at the old Iddings place; John Wilson,^ at Jenkin's mill; 
Adam Haines, on the McCorley place, White Deer. William Blythe's 
cabin is marked on a survey made 24th October, as standing twenty- 
five rods from the river, on the little run above the Ard place. Joseph 
McLaughlin had an improvement on White Deer creek, west of 
Blythe's, and one Bennett had a cabin on White Deer creek, about one 
mile above the cotton factory. John Fisher took up the place now 
known as Datesman's, West Milton, and settled upon it. Michael 
Weyland the George F. Miller place. William Armstrong lived 
where the road comes out to the old ferry, below New Columbia. 
James Parr commenced an improvement on the same tract, a little 
above, and they agreed to divide the land, Armstrong to fill up his 
application by taking more land in the rear. In doing so, he en- 
croached on the Earnest Burke, a tract belonging to Hawkins Boone. 
Hence a law suit reported in 2 Binn., 55. 

1 John Wnson died in 1774. He was the father of Thomas "Wilson, afterwards a 
promlnentcitizenof Erie county, and of Mrs. David Mead, (of Mead ville.) Sanford's 
Erie, page 220. 






l^^O. 




Early Surveys — Settlers from Paxton — Scull's Map, 

OHN PENN, Governor. Ofifacials the same as in 1769. 
May 21, Turbutt Francis, Esquire, appointed Prothon- 
otary of Cumberland county, vice H. Alricks, resigned. 
The following notices of settlers are derived from old 
conveyances and notes of surveyors : 

As early as the 28th of March, John Buchanan and his father re- 
sided on the Richard Edwards tract, where Stoltzfus now lives. By 
a lease, dated that day, he agreed with Thomas Lemmon and Sarah, 
his wife, to build a log house, eighteen by twenty, thereon, clear and 
fence ten acres of field, two of meadow, plant ten apple and twenty 
cherry trees, &c. 

[)"acob Fought bought of Captain Timothy Green two hundred 
and sixteen acres at the mouth of Cedar run, including the forks of 
Buffalo creek, the Rockey mill site, and moved there. 23d March, 
James Wilson surveyed the George Palmer tract, embracing Win- 
field, for John Lee. He speaks of commencing at Lee's spring, 
and running S. 40°, E. 53, to an ash at the river, and thence, by 
the back side of Lee's fields, N. 40° W. This explains the corner 
left out of the Craig survey below, and shows that Lee had cleared 
the fields where Thomas Pursel now lives as early as the 4th of 
October, 1769, when Craig's survey was made. The first regular 
clearing, perhaps, in the Valley, and its exact locality is thus iden- 
tified. In May, Wilson surveyed the addition to David Moore, 
along Buffalo creek, now A. J. Rishel's, and speaks of Hans Fleming 

34 



1770.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 35 

living in there. On the 12th of May, he surveyed the Thomas 
Sutherland place in Dry valley, where Emerick's family was after- 
wards captured. He says " this land Robert King has bought," indi- 
ca.tmg the residence of the first constable of Buffalo township. 17th 
May he surveyed the John Umstead tract, on Stony run, which 
empties into Buffalo creek, east of the mouth of Rapid run. On 
the 1 8th, the Peter Horning, where Esquire Sheckler now lives. 
This land was afterwards in litigation between Christopher Johnston 
and Matthew Irwin for over thirty years. His field notes explain 
the origin of the trouble. He commenced at an ash, (which stood 
in the road afterwards laid out, nearly in front of Esquire Sheckler's 
house,) in the line of the eight hundred tract made for Foster and 
Rees; thence ran north 168, to a black oak of same, (this distance 
was found by subsequent surveys to be one hundred and eighty-two 
perches;) and thence, by an old Indian cabin, W. 74 to a maple; 
and thence, by a ridge, crossing a run at seventy-two perches, N. 
78 to a hickory, west 122 to a chestnut oak, and by a ridge S. 138 
to a Spanish oak, E. 80 to a white oak, and by a ridge S. 122 to a 
white oak, (subsequent surveys made this distance 135.) "I had set 
the course east from this white oak, and at 54 I intersected a line 
of Doctor Plunket's, made by Samuel Maclay, which I found ran 
north and south. The distance between two black oak corners was 
between sixty and seventy perches, where, I made a halt, and left 
open the line between white oak and ash beginning." Leaving this 
line open, made the difficulty, the white oak having disappeared. 

On 25 th of September, he surveyed for John Lee the small thirty- 
eight acre tract, at Strohecker's landing. He says he began at the 
white oak of the survey Ludwig Derr lives on ; thence ran N. 50°, 
W. 56, &c., showing that Derr then lived on the site of Lewisburg. 
I found Lee's receipt for the purchase money among Youngman and 
Walters' papers, who lately owned the place where Lee was killed 
by the Indians. 

Michael Pfoutz was Wilson's chain-carrier. 

Colonel John Kelly at this time lived on the place where he died, 
as appears by Mr. Wilson's notes. 

In an assessment for the year 1 770, of Paxton township, now Dau- 
phin county, occur the names of Robert Clark, Walter Clark, Robert 
Fruit, William Maclay, Matthew Smith, William Plunket, George 



j6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1771. 

^_ 

Overmeier, Michael Troy, William Clark, the four last named marked 
inmates, indicating either a widower or unmarried man; and in 
Middletown we find the name of Albright Swineford, all prominent 
in the subsequent annals. 

William Scull's map of date April 4, 1770, has Mahantango creek, 
Middle creek, Penn's creek, Turtle, Buffalo, and White Deer creeks 
laid down, with their respective names. Reed's residence is marked 
half-way between Mahantango and Penn's. Gabriel's, now Selins- 
grove, is marked "Cox's borough." Nittany and Jack's mountains 
are on, with these respective names, but he has a range of mountains 
running up the river from the mouth of Buffalo creek. 



l^^l. 




Great Flood — Penn Township Settlers — G-eorge Gtabriel — First 
Mills Built — Dreisbach's Church — Michael Wetland. 

jICHARD PENN, Lieutenant Governor from October 16. 
Edward Biddle and Henry Christ, Representatives of 
Berks county; Sheriff, George Nagle. William Allen 
and John Montgomery, Representatives of Cumberland ; 
Sheriff, Ephraim Blaine. 

9th March, the Susquehanna river. Bald Eagle creek up to Spring 
creek, and Penn's creek, for twenty miles above its mouth, were 
declared public highways. John Lowdon was appointed one of the 
commissioners for making them navigable, i Smith's Laws, 324. 

On the same day, the officers of the first and second .battalions 
held another meeting. Charles Lukens reported that the whole 
tract surveyed by him on Bald Eagle creek contained only eight 
thousand three hundred and eighty acres, which is fifteen hundred 
and twenty-four acres less than the quantity allowed them. He 
divided the Bald Eagle tract into twenty shares, the last of which 



1771.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 37 



Lieutenant Askey got ; so that Lieutenant McAllister, Ensign Piper, 
Captain Sems, and Captain Kern yet lacked their shares. Colonel 
Francis then said that a grant might be obtained for the tract of 
land in Buffalo Valley formerly intended to be located by Captain 
Plunket, and since surveyed for the Proprietaries, containing one 
thousand and five acres. Piper was, therefore, given lot No. 6, on 
Bald Eagle, surveyed for Ensign Morrow, who was excluded from 
the grant by the Penns, because he was of the party that rescued 
Stump and Iron-Cutter, the murderers of the Indians on Middle 
creek ; Captain Kern, two hundred and eighty-seven acres, late the 
Chamberlain mill tract, in Kelly, now Hoffa's ; Lieutenant McAl- 
lister, two hundred and ninety acres, late Howard farm, adjoining 
the above ; and Colonel Francis, for Captain Sems, five hundred 
and twenty-seven and one half acres, adjoining. Colonel Francis 
sold the latter tract to William Linn, of Lurgan township, P^ranklin 
county, who divided it among his children. His grandson, W. T. 
Linn, still owns his father's share. 

Loskiel mentions that in the spring of this year there was a great 
flood in the Susquehanna, which compelled the Indians at Wyoming 
to leave their houses, and take to the hills, where they remained 
four days. 

The assessment of Penn's township contains this year the names 
of the following additional settlers : Frederick Albright, Thomas 
Allen, Tobias Bickle, Henry Bower, Robert Boyd,'^obias Bickle, 
junior, Michael Beidenbaugh, William Burchard, Abraham Billman, 
George Bowerman, Peter Druckenmiller, Widow Dowd, Michael 
Egulph, John Foutz, George Herrold, Joseph Jacobs, Michael Kers- 
tetter, Bostian Kerstetter, Andrew Moor, Jacob Myer, Robert 
Moody, Edward McConnell, William Nees, John Regenbach, junior, 
Michael Stoke, Michael Swingle, Harman Snyder, Michael Weaver, 
George Miller, Andrew Ulsh. Freemen : Casper Snyder, Conrad 
Hayslick, and Michael Foutz. 

George Gabriel, no doubt, died this year, as his name disappears 
from the assessment list. His obituary, or the only one I can find, 
at least, is not very comphmentary. On the 13th November, 1772, 
at a meeting of '' the officers," Mr. Lukens and Little had a claim, 
they said, for a location of three hundred acres, presented to them 
by Colonel John Armstrong, which was included in the officers' sur- 



38 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1771. 

vey, insisting that the place now called Cedar springs, Pontius's now, 
was the same to which Colonel Armstrong gave the name of Snake 
spring, in 1755 ; and Mr. Ewing read a paper, said to be a copy of 
George Gabriel's deposition, who was with Colonel Armstrong when 
the name was given. ' ' We told them that their location Avas extremely 
vague, being for land near John Penn's creek, twelve miles south- 
ward of Fort Augusta, which did not affect our claim in the least. 
As to Gabriel's deposition, it is but ex parte testimony. The man 
is since dead, but is well known to have been a man of infamous 
character. That Colonel Armstrong, the gentleman who gave the 
location, is still living, and has declared that he cannot fix upon the 
spot." This claim was, no doubt, founded upon the Manor survey 
of 1760. 

Jacob Fought built the first mill in West Buffalo township, and, 
perhaps, the first in the Valley, unless, we except Derr's, at Lewis- 
burg, the exact date of the building of which I cannot ascertain, 
though, probably, in 1770. The date of Fought's is fixed by an 
agreement, yet on record, with George Rote, dated 1 4th November, 
1776. It recites that Fought built the mill in 1771, and a dam on 
the south branch of the creek. Finding that insufficient, he dug a 
water-course, and erected a dam to take the water from the north 
branch of Buffalo creek. George Rote had purchased the adjoining 
tract of Colonel deHaas, who had purchased of Ensign Foster. By 
this agreement, the yearly damage to Rote's land was fixed at £^1 
^s, and Fought bound himself, his heirs, and successors to pay said 
sum yearly; but if the mill-dam became " extink " or the water 
ceased to do damage, the agreement was to be void. Marks were 
to be made on a big rock, on an iron-wood, and on a white oak. 
When the water reached these marks, it was to be run over the dam. 
The dam on the north branch was to be three feet, and no higher.' 
At Fought's mill the first elections in the Valley were held. 

James Wilson made numerous surveys this year: 31st May, the 
William Kelly tract, on Black's run, on which Stahl, the noted wagon- 
maker, lived so long; 2 2d June, Peter Herrold and John Flack- 
inger, on White Deer creek; i6th August, the Thomas Mackemiss, 
beginning at a black oak, he says, where Samuel Maclay stopped 
with the officers' line, on the west line of Cumberland county, (north 
of Ray's church;) 17th September, the Joseph Updegraff, the lead- 



1771.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jg 

ing survey on the north branch of Buffalo creek, (Kelly's mills.) 
Thomas McGuire, the elder, was then a resident of the Valley. 
Hawkins Boone made this year the John Musser surveys, in White 
Deer Hole valley, four miles from the river. 

From a short sketch of the Dreisbach church, compiled by the late 
John Schrack, Esquire, it appears there were Lutheran and German 
Reformed churches organized in the Valley at this date. He speaks 
of a record of baptisms, extending from 1771 to 17 7-5'. The church 
was not built, however, and worship was held in private houses. 
Among the names of parents, occur those of Henry Bolender, Henry 
Pontius, Christian Storms, Simon Himrod. (The latter lived in 
Turbutt township. Was afterwards member of Assembly. The 
family removed to near Waterford, Erie county, in 1798.) Leonard 
Welker, Phihp Stover, Christian Biehl, Yost Derr, Christian Ewig, 
Stephen Duchman, and Henry Bickel, afterwards killed by the 
Indians. 

During this year, Daniel Nargong made an improvement on Dog 
run, near the site of New Columbia. He afterwards took up a tract 
higher up the run. His daughters married Nicholas and Jacob 
Welch, whose family owned the place within a few years back, and, 
perhaps, do still. 

In November, 1771, Walter Clark, of Paxton township, bought 
the one thousand one hundred and fifty acres, surveyed to Reverend 
John Ewing, in trust for himself, Robert Fruit, William Gray, 
Robert Clark, and William Clark, all of the same township. They 
divided it into six tracts, agreed each to take one sixth, and sell the 
remaining tract, which they did to Ludwig Derr, 31st July, 1773. 
Walter Clark settled on the place now owned by Honorable Eli 
Slifer, William Gray where Major Paul Geddes now lives, Robert 
Fruit on the Heinly place, William Clark on the place now owned 
by M. H. Taggart, and Robert on what is now Judge Hummel's 
farm. A^ltec Clajk sold to Joseph Musser in 1802, and moved to 
Mercer county, where his family became prominent. His son John 
was a member of the Legislature from that county. Captain Gray, 
afterwards an officer in the Revolution, lived and died on his place. 
He was ancestor of Dunlaps's, Hayes, Hutchinsons, Hudsons, Wal- 
laces, W. G. Williams, (of Bellefonte,) &c. Richard Fruit sold out 
to Henry Hursh in 181 2, and moved to Derry, Northumberland 



40 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1772. 

county. Robert and William Clark died on their respective places. 
Among the deaths this year occurred that of Michael Weyland, 
leaving a widow, Magdalena, and nine children, Michael, junior, 
Jacob, George, John, Samuel, Mary, (married to Peter Swartz, 
junior,) Margaret, (to Christian Moyer,) Catherine, and Magdalena. 
He was buried on the place, in an old grave-yard there. Colonel 
James Moore told rne it was still in existence when his father lived 
there, a little piece up the road running from the river. 



i>rr^. 




Northumberland County Erected — Officials^Boundaries of Town- 
ships — SuNBURY Laid Out — First Roads — Connecticut Claim — 
William Speddy — Ludwig Derr — Deaths. 

|ICHARD PENN, Lieutenant Governor. Representative 
in Assembly, Samuel Hunter. George Nagel, Sheriff of 
Berks and Northumberland. 

Additional residents in Penn's township: Abraham 
Clements, Michael Hawn, Henry Miser, George Miller, John Swartz, 
Melchior Stock, Adam Steffy, Simon Scouden, widow of Andrew 
Moore, Benjamin Ewig, Conrad Hafflich, John Reber. The first 
assessments of Penn's and Buffalo, from the organization of the 
county down to 1 775, seem to have been lost when the records were 
forwarded to Paxton, during the great runaway. List of settlers 
cannot, therefore, be given for the three years intervening. 

2ist March, Northumberland county was erected out of parts of 
Berks, Bedford, Lancaster, Cumberland, and Northampton, by the 
following bounds: Beginning at the mouth of Mahantango creek, 
up the south side, to the head of Robert Meteer's spring, (in West 
Perry, near Mr. Winey's, sometimes miscalled Montour's spring ;) 
thence west by north, to the top of Tussey's mountain; -thence along 



1772.J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY, 41 

the summit to the Uttle Juniata; thence up the east side of the main 
branch, to the head thereof; thence north to the line of Berks 
county ; thence north-west, along the same line, to the extremity of 
the Province ; thence east, along the north boundary, to a point due 
north of the most northern part of Great swamp, (the numerous 
ponds in the upper end of Luzerne county are here referred to;) 
thence south to the most southern point of said swamp ; thence, with 
a straight line, to the head of Lehigh; thence down the creek so far 
that a line run west south-west will strike the forks of Mahantango 
creek, where Pine creek falls into the same, at the place called 
Spread Eagle, (now Klingerstown,) on the east side of the Susque- 
hanna; thence down the south side of the creek to the river; thence 
across the river to the beginning. 

The county, therefore, extended as far west as Lake Erie, the 
head of Lehigh on the east, (Pike county,) New York State on the 
north, and the mouth of Mahantango creek on the south. Fort 
Augusta was fixed as the place of election, and the county to be en- 
titled to one Representative. The Governor was to nominate a 
competent number of justices, any three of whom could hold the 
several courts on the fourth Tuesday of February, May, August, and 
November, at Fort Augusta, until a court-house should be built. 
William Maclay, John Lowdon, Samuel Hunter, Joseph Wallis, and 
Robert Moodie were appointed trustees to purchase a piece of 
ground on which the court-house was to be erected, subject to the 
Governor's approval. Thomas Lemmon was made collector of 
excise. Joshua Elder, James Potter, Jesse Lukens, and William 
Scull were appointed to run the boundary line. 

Q^cials. 

William Plunket, Turbutt Francis, Samuel Hunter, James Potter, 
William Maclay, John Lowdon, Thomas Lemmon, Ellis Hughes, 
and Benjamin Weiser confirmed as justices in Council, and William 
Maclay, prothonotary and clerk of the several courts, March 24. 

The first county commissioners were William Gray, Thomas 
Hewitt, and John Weitzel. November 23, Casper Reed, of Penn's, 
was sworn in as county commissioner ; Alexander Hunter, county 
treasurer; Walter Clark, Jonathan Lodge, Peter Hosterman, James 



42 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1772. 

Harrison, Nicholas Miller, Jacob Heverling, and Samuel Weiser, 
assessors. 

9th April, the first court, which was a private sessions of the peace, 
William Plunket presiding, James Potter and John Lowdon assist- 
ing, was held. The county was divided into seven townships : 
Penn's, Augusta, Turbutt, Buffalo, Bald Eagle, Muncy, and Wyo- 
ming. Our annals relate only to Buffalo and Penn's. 

The boundary of Buffalo commenced at the mouth of Penn's 
creek, at the head of the Isle of Que ; thence up the same to the 
forks, (a it^^ miles south of Millheim, Centre county;) thence by a 
north line to the West Branch, (this struck the river at the mouth of 
Bald Eagle creek, a mile below Lock Haven;) thence down the 
river to the place of beginning. Thus embracing all of Union, a 
large part of Snyder and Centre, and a great part of Lycoming 
counties, as now constituted. Robert King was the first constable. 

The boundary of Penn's, before that in Cumberland county, be- 
gan at the mouth of Mahantango creek ; thence, by the county line, 
to Meteer's spring ; thence, with the same line, to the top of Tussey's 
mountain; thence, along the top thereof, easterly, to Penn's creek; 
thence down the creek to its mouth ; thence down the river to the 
place of beginning. This boundary ran along the present line of 
Snyder county; thence to the north line of Mifflin county, at the 
corner of the present townships of Jackson and Brown, and em- 
braced part of Brown, nearly all of Armagh and Decatur town- 
ships, in Mifflin, the southern portions of Hartley and Lewis, and 
all the present county of Snyder, except Monroe township. 

The first court of common pleas was held on the fourth Tuesday 
of May, before Justices William Plunket, Samuel Hunter, Caleb 
Grayson, Thomas Lemmon, and Robert Moodie. The commission 
of William Maclay, prothonotary, was read, and the following mem- 
bers of the bar sworn in : James Wilson, of York, (a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence and Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States,) then residing at York ; Robert Magaw, 
of Carlisle, (afterwards colonel of the Sixth Pennsylvania and defender 
of Fort Washington;) Edward Burd, district attorney; Christian 
Hucks^and George North. After examination, James Potts, Charles 

' Afterwards the Tory, Captain Hucks, of Tarleton's dragoons, killed in South 
Carolina, in 1780-81.— G-raydon Memoirs, page 270. 



1772.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 43 

Stedman, and Andrew Robinson. Tavern keepers applying for 
license were George Wolf, (below the Northumberland bridge,) Mar- 
tin Trester of Buffalo, and Martin Cost. The number of suits 
brought to August term was thirty-three. No. i was James Patton 
vs. James Garley — Magaw for plaintiff, Wilson for defendant. Of 
the first grand jurors were Captain John Brady, foreman, George 
Overmeier, John Rearick, Peter Leonard, William Gray, Ludwig 
Derr, Andrew Hafer, Hawkins Boone, James Park, and John Walk- 
er, all of Buffalo Valley. 

Sunbury. 

In a letter, dated June 2, 1772, Mr. Tilghman, Secretary of the 
Land Office, writes to William Maclay : ' ' Mr. Lukens goes to lay out 
the town, agreeably to instructions. You are joined with him in 
the work. You are to treat with Mr. Lowdon, and if his title be 
good, and he will take a sum named in the instructions, (^200,) 
the town is to be laid out in the Forks ; otherwise on the fort side. 
Wallis and Haines have said they had a right, and they must relin- 
quish it. As Lowdon's application was in his wife's name, she must 
convey. As putting the town in the forks is a concession against 
the interest of the Proprietaries to accommodate the people, if the 
place cannot be clear of claims, the town must be on the other side." 

Some of the difficulties were insuperable, for the instructions to 
treat with Lowdon for three hundred and thirty acres, or there- 
abouts, situated near the point of the Forks, are stricken out of the 
rough draft, and on the i6th of June, the Governor and his Coun- 
cil issued an order to the Surveyor General, John Lukens, to repair 
to Fort Augusta, and, with the assistance of William Maclay, lay out 
a town for the county of Northumberland, to be called by the name 
of Sunbury, at the most commodious place between the forks of the 
river and the mouth of Shamokin creek. Main street to be eighty 
feet wide, the others sixty, the lanes and alleys twenty, &:c. The 
town was accordingly laid out in June, 1772. On the 31st of Au- 
gust, William Maclay writes, that the noise about the point town is 
already greatly quieted, and the people begin to think Sunbury the 
best situation. 



44 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1772. 

77?^ Ferry. 

August 14th, Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, by letters patent, 
granted to Robert King, his executors and assigns, the privilege of 
keeping a ferry, over the main branch of the Susquehanna at Sun- 
bury. (King conveyed his right to Adam Heverling, November 30? 
1773; Heverling to Christopher Gettig, April 17, 1775 ; Gettig to 
Abraham Dewitt, October 8, 1779 j Eleanor Dewitt, alias Coldern, 
administratrix of Dewitt, to John Lyon, October 25, 1787 ; and on 
the 2d of November, 1787, John Lyon presented a petition to the 
Assembly for the privilege for a term of years, which was granted.) 

The first criminal case was tried at August sessions, King vs. John 
Williams, for larceny — Robert Fruit and RQbert.C^lark were on the 
jury. He was found guilty, and sentenced to pay a fine of ^^, to 
receive twenty-one lashes on his bare back, and to be committed to 
the magazine of the fort until the sentence was complied with. 

Thomas Hartley, (lieutenant colonel of Eleventh Pennsylvania 
regiment,) Casper Weitzel, Andrew Ross, and James Whitehead 
were sworn in as attorneys, at August term. Hawkins Boone and 
Thomas Sutherland, had suits at this term — Weitzel for Boone, Sted- 
man for Sutherland \ also, Michael Regor vs. William Blythe. The 
latter suit referred to Samuel Maclay, John Brady, and George 
Wolfe, to settle. George Nagel, sheriff of Berks, acted as sheriff until 
Colonel William Cooke was commissioned, in October, the first 
sheriff of Northumberland county. 

The first road up the river from Fort Augusta was reported by 
the viewers, Richard Malone, Marcus Huling, John Robb, and 
Alexander Stephens, in October: 

' '■ To begin at the end of the road lately laid out from the head 
of the Schuylkill to Fort Augusta \ thence north-east, one hundred 
and sixty perches, to the fording; thence across the North Branch, 
to a marked hickory, near the bank on the main point ; at two miles 
eighty-six perches, they came to John Alexander's ; at one and a half 
miles further, they crossed Chillisquaque creek ; at nearly one mile 
further, they came to William Plunket's ; at three miles further, 
John Dougherty's ; at two miles further, Marcus Huling's ; at ten 
miles, the gap in the Muncy hills ; at four miles, Muncy creek ; at 
two hundred and seven rods, Wolfe's run ; four hundred and forty- 



1772.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. < 45 

two rods, crossed the run above Samuel Wallis' house; three hundred 
and twenty-two rods, crossed next run above ; at four and a half 
miles, Loyalsock creek; at five and a half miles, Lycoming creek." 
Total, thirty-seven miles from Northumberland point to now New- 
berry, in the city of Williamsport. This road was confirmed, and 
ordered to be opened, thirty-three feet in width. The hne of the 
Indian purchase was then assumed to be at Lycoming creek, after- 
wards, admitted by the Indians to be at Pine creek. The order 
specified the "Indian line," as the terminus of the road. 

Of the Connecticut Claim. 

It will be recollected that the Connecticut people, or Yankees, as 
they were called by the Pennamites, claimed under their charter the 
land as far south as the forty-first degree of latitude, which passes 
through the county a mile or more north of Lewisburg. By the 
following memoranduin, furnished me by O. N. Worden, Esquire, 
which he found among the records of the Susquehanna Land Com- 
pany, at Hartford, Connecticut, it appears that William Speddy 
(the elder) was their authorized agent to take and hold possession 
of land claimed by them in the Valley. " 1771, William Speddy 
voted one 'selling right' in Wyoming, for previous efforts in hold- 
ing possession in June, and for further intended efforts." 

The following affidavit, in the handwriting of William Maclay, 
which I found among the papers of the deputy surveyor's office of 
Union county, is the first notice I have of his appearance in Buffalo 
Valley. It is worthy of note in this connection, that, in deeds of this 
year (1772) for lands in our Valley, special warrants were common 
"against the claim of the inhabitants of New England." It appears 
(Votes of Assembly, 1773, page 492) that in June a large band of 
armed men from Connecticut appeared upon the West Branch, to 
dispossess the inhabitants, and were prevented. Speddy was the 
mere advanced skirmisher or picket : 

^^Northumberland County, ss : 

"John Scott, of Northampton county, being duly sworn on the 
Holy Evangehsts of Almighty God, deposeth that the night before 
last, this deponent and his son and another man from Bucks 
county, lay in the woods near Buffaloe creek, and in the morning a 



4(> ANNALS, OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1772 

certain William Speddy came to them and told them he supposed 
they were travelers and looking for lands to buy; this deponent 
and company answered in the affirmative. He then desired them 
to take care how they purchased of Penn, unless they had likewise 
New England rights ; this deponent answered that he would not 
give a copper for New England rights. He said this deponent 
might be mistaken in being too sure in depending on Penn's rights. 
That the New England people had more right than we thought for ; 
he owned that he stood by and saw Stuart shoot Ogden, and justi- 
fied the action. Much more was said to nearly the same purpose 
by the said Speddy, who spoke with great violence, and would not 
bear any contradiction to what he asserted. Sworn and subscribed 
the 17 of June, 1772." 

Wilham Speddy's name first appears in " a list of rioters in the 
fort at Wyoming, 21st January, 1771, when Nathan Ogden was 
murdered," to use the language of Governor John Penn. (John 
Penn's proclamation offering a reward of ^^o for the arrest of 
William Speddy, 9th February, 1771.) In Hugh Gaines' New 
York Gazette of November 14, 1771, there is a paragraph of Phila- 
delphia news, dated November 4, 1771, as follows: "At the Su- 
preme Court, held here on Tuesday last, William Speddy was 
arraigned and tried for the murder of Lieutenant Nathan Ogden, 
who was shot from the block-house at Wyoming, whilst it was in 
the possession of Lazarus Stewart and company. After a long and 
impartial hearing, the jury soon gave in their verdict ' not guilty.' " 
Doctor Peck, in his history of Wyoming, notices him thus: "An- 
other of these rioters, as they were called, was William Speddy. 
He was somewhat in years, and was called 'Old Speddy,' but his 
age could not abate the rigor of the Pennsylvania authorities, for 
they kept him in close confinement in Philadelphia for more than 
two years. How, where, or precisely when Speddy was captured 
we are not able to say, but his final examination must have taken 
place some time in the year 1771. Mrs. Myers says when her 
sister Polly was two years old, and she was twelve, her mother was 
desired to go to Philadelphia, as a witness in favor of Speddy, who 
was to be tried for the murder of Nathan Ogden. This journey 
Mrs. Bennett performed alone on horseback, a distance of one 
hundred and twenty miles, most of the way through the wilderness. 



1772.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 47 

When she reached Philadelphia, she found that the court had ad- 
journed, and she then made a journey to Goshen, and attended to 
some business. When the trial came on she was present, and her 
testimony cleared Speddy. He was wasted away to a mere skele- 
ton. When he was discharged his joy and gratitude overleaped all 
bounds. He fell upon his knees before Mrs. Bennett, and almost 
worshiped her. 'Get up^ Speddy,' said she, 'I have done no 
more than any one ought to do for a fellow-creature. ' He kissed 
her hand and bathed it with tears." This story of " Pennsylvania 
rigor" is reduced in dimensions from two years to probably eight 
months, as no man was ever tried twice for the same murder in 
Pennsylvania ; and he was acquitted on the 4th of November, 1 7 7 1 . 
Long enough, however, for this old war hawk of New England 
rights, to be caged, to render him very grateful to Mrs. Bennett. 

As it is said the honey bee precedes about fifty miles and heralds 
the advance of the white man into the wilderness, Speddy was the 
honey bee of New England civilization in Buffalo Valley. 

He chose for his residence the prettiest little dale in Buffalo 
Valley. It is on Turtle creek, near what is now Supplee's (formerly 
Treaster's) mill. Jacob Brown now owns the place. In Decem- 
ber, 1776, he volunteered in Captain John Clarke's company of 
Northumberland county, and served during the campaign of Tren- 
ton and Princeton. In 1778 he resided upon the same tract, which 
was known as the George Gall tract of two hundred and sixty-two 
acres. In 1780 he is taxed with the same tract, one horse, and 
three cows. In 1782, in- connection with John Lee and William 
Storms, he was assessor of Buffalo township. His signature to the 
assessment is in a full, round, beautiful hand. In 1785, his name is 
dropped from the assessment books, and he disappears from our local 
history. He had a son, William Speddy, junior. 

J. W. Speddy, of Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, wrote me in 1870 
that William Speddy, senior, was his great-grandfather, and that the 
latter removed to Lost creek valley, Juniata county, and died at a 
place called Speddy's Gap, near McAllisterville. H. Swartzell, Es- 
quire, deputy surveyor of Mifflin county, allowed me to copy a draft 
of the Speddy tract. It is the border one of the Valley surveys, 
and the finger-board to the Shade mountain surveys, and, there- 
fore, though dead, he yet speaks, and his name will, no doubt, be 



48 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1772. 

called over in court and out of court for hundreds of years yet to 
come. 

In April, James Wilson made a number of surveys for John Low- 
don, in what is now the territory of West Buffalo. On the 15 th of 
May he made the leading survey in the lower end of what is now 
Union township, for Daniel Rees, so many years owned by Joseph 
Fearon, and now owned and occupied, in part, by Joseph Shannon. 
In consequence of the suit between Bonham and William Gibbons, 
referred to hereafter in connection with the capture of the Emerick 
family, the Rees lines were often run and found well marked. On 
his original field notes, Wilson says: "This land is situated about 
two miles from John Lee's, on both sides of the path that leads to 
Treaster's." Trester's was at the mouth of Tuscarora creek, on 
Penn's, one mile above New Berlin, now in Jackson township, Sny- 
der county. 

Ludwig Derr bought the tract on which Lewisburg now stands, 
during the summer of this year, from the Reverend Richard Peters. 
His mill, which is still standing, being the front portion of Smith 
& Fry's, so many years John Brown's mill, was in existence in the 
fall of this year. How long previous I cannot ascertain. Derr 
bought the " Joseph Hudnot tract," (still owned, except the part 
belonging to Joseph W. Shriner, by his grand and great-grand- 
children,) in June, 1772, of John Coxe, merchant, of Philadelphia, 

for ;£i75- 

On the 3d of October, John Aurand bought the " Jenkin's mill " 
property, on Turtle creek, and it went by the name of '' Aurand's 
mill," when he sold it to Morgan Jenkin. It is still owned by the 
Jenkin's family. Doctor Harbaugh, in his " Fathers of the German 
Reformed Church," states, upon the authority of John Aurand, of 
Yellow Springs, Blair county, a grandson of John Aurand, that the 
latter built both flour and saw-mill at Turtle creek. Wilson, how- 
ever, had some sort of a mill there as early as 1771. John Wilson 
died during the year 1772, according to my researches — Miss Sand- 
ford, ante., says in 1774. 

In the fall Robert Barber, Esquire, built the first house on the 
White Springs tract of which we have any knowledge, as he recites 
in a lease dated 9th August, 1773, ^o John Scott, that he leases him 
the house he had built last fall at the head of White springs for 



1772. J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 49 

seven years. It was on the Edward Lee warrantee, which Barber 
had purchased, in August, from Reuben Haines. 

Christian Diehl (written Dale) lived on part of the Ewing tract, 
(now Colonel Slifer's upper farm, near the iron bridge.) The late 
John Beeber told me that his father's term of service was purchased 
by Mr. Diehl from the captain whose ship he came over in, and he 
helped Mr. Diehl clear that place in 1772, owned then by Ludwig 
Derr. Adam Beeber then returned to Philadelphia, served five 
years in the army, after which he came up to Muncy, where he 
settled and died. Christian Diehl's grandson. Captain Christian 
Dale, of Harris township. Centre county, aged sixty-six, confirms 
the story, as a tradition of the family, in regard to Adam Beeber's 
service with his grandfather. 

William Wilson bought of James Wilson, his father, the John 
Moore warrantee. Settled there during this year. He was then 
unmarried. Boarded at a house near Mortonville, whence he walked 
over every day to clear his place, on which he died in 1824. His 
mansion residence is now owned by Reverend Jacob Rodenbaugh. 

Wendell Baker bought of Samuel Maclay the George Calhoun 
tract, still owned by his descendants, in August, and moved into 
the Valley from York county. Mrs. David H. Kelly and J. T. 
Baker Esquire, are of his descendants. 

John Lowdon settled on the Levi Shoemaker place, near Miffiin- 
burg, which he called "Silver Spring," removing there from Nor- 
thumberland point, where he subsequently laid out the present town 
of Northumberland. 

John McClung settled on the place known as "Hard Scrabble," 
in East Buffalo. In 1807 Matthias Macpherson bought that por- 
tion of the McClung place, and sold off the lots. 

In December occurred the first wedding in the Valley I find any 
record of. Magdalena, widow of Michael Weyland, to Peter Swartz, 
senior. The latter then moved upon the place described as containing 
three hundred acres at Sinking spring — Shikelhmy's old town. On 
the 1 8th of December, Mrs. Swartz took out letters of administration 
upon her former husband's estate, the first ever issued in Northum- 
berland county. Her account was filed 8th September, 1774, in 
which Peter Swartz joins. It has an item on the debtor side of deer 
skins, accepted for a debt due the estate from Captain John Brady. 
4 



so ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1773. 

Peter Smith, who lived at White Deer Mills, (part of his old stone 
house still stands, now occupied by Doctor Donowsky,) died this 
fall. Jesse Lukens had the rightful title, and brought a suit, in 
1772, against Peter, marked abated by the death of Smith, in 1773, 
February. His widow held on the possession, (postea 1785.) 

Thomas McKee, the Indian trader, from whom McKees' Half- 
Falls gets its name, died in April, 1772. 



1^^3 



i 


a 

m 


M 



Settlers — Roads — Buffalo Cross-Roads Church — Ejectment Cases. 

jICHARD PENN, acting Lieutenant Governor until 
July 19. After August 30, John Penn, who was 
confirmed Lieutenant Governor by the King, June 30, 
was awarded the title of Governor by the Provincial 
Council. 

Member of Assembly, Samuel Hunter ; Presiding Justice, William 
Plunket; Prothonotary, William Maclay; Sheriff, William Cooke; 
Coroner, James Murray ; County Commissioner, Casper Reed. 

Officers of Buffalo : Constable, James Boveard 3 Supervisors, 
Joseph Green and Martin Trester ; Overseers of the Poor, William 
Irwin, late of Carlisle, and John Lee. 

Settlers during this year : Abel Reese, on the place now owned 
by John Gundy's heirs, in East Buffalo ; Joseph Sips, on the David 
Henning place, in Buffalo; Philip Hoy purchased the place in 
Limestone township, still owned by his descendants ; James Fleming 
settled on Dale's place, opposite late Thomas Clingan's, erected a 
cabin, and cleared four or five acres. He sold out to Samuel Dale. 
See Gray vs. Dale, 4 Yeates, 494, for an account of their dispute 
about the dividing line. 



1773.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ji- 

On the grand jury for May occur the names of William Irwin, 
John Foster, Peter Swartz, Abel Reese, John Gillespie, William 
Foster, William Leech, and John Thompson. Leonard Groninger 
and James Buchanan had a battle, which came before them. Joseph 
Green became Buchanan's bail. 

Christian Yan Gundy recommended for license. He kept a 
tavern at the Strohecker landing, his house standing on Derr's land. 
Its remains were removed by excavation for the railroad in 1854. 

William Irwin, John Kelly, Robert King, Jacob Grozean, (called 
French Jacob,) and Ludwig Derr were appointed viewers to lay out 
a road " from the fording between Ludwig Derr's and John Aurand's 
mill through Buffalo Valley to the Narrows." They never reported, 
and at May sessions, 1774, Samuel Maclay, William Irwin, Henry 
Pontius, Christian Storms, and William Gray were appointed in 
their stead. They reported in February, 1775. William Foster 
and John Lee (first tavern at Winfield) were recommended for 
license. Among the viewers to lay out the road from Great Plains 
to Sunbury were James Potter, John Thompson, Joseph Green, et 
al. Among the jurors were Thomas Sutherland, William Thompson, 
Philip Cole, the first inhabitant of Hartleton. He was colonel of 
the militia regiment of the Valley in 1776, went on a tour of duty 
to Reading and Philadelphia; he left the Valley with the "great 
runaway," 1778, and never returned. Peter Kester succeeded Cole 
as tenant of Colonel Hartley, who purchased of Cole in 1784. It 
went by the name of Kester's until Colonel Hartley laid out the 
town. An indictment was found against Martin and Michael 
Trester for assault and battery ; they were found guilty, and that 
was all the sessions business of this year. 

Buffalo Gross-Roads Presbyterian Church. 

According to Mr. Hood's account, this church was organized this 
year, and James McClenachan and Samuel Allen were its first ruling 
elders, the former ordained at Derry, now in Dauphin county, the 
latter at Silver Spring, Cumberland county. Mr. McClenachan was 
from Hanover township, Dauphin county, and came into the Valley 
in April, 1773. These gentlemen continued to act as elders to 
receive supplies until 1781, when the church was broken up in con- 



S2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1773. 

sequence of the country being overrun by the Indians. In 1783 the 
people returned, and in the same year Mr. McClenachan died, and 
as Mr. Allen had died while the people were away, it appears the 
congregation were without elders until the year 1785, when Matthew 
Laird, who had been an elder at Big Spring, came to reside in the 
congregation. {Doctor Grier's manuscript sermon.) 

Ejectment. 

^' At May term, Adam Christ brought ejectment against William 
Speddy, tenant in possessTon" of the George Gall tract, now Sup- 
plee's mill, in East Buffalo. Speddy's possession under his Connec- 
ticut title did not avail, and he was ousted. Hartkj^and Burd for 
Christ ; Stedman and Wilson for Speddy. 

Japhet Morton also brought suit vs. Christian Storms, tenant in 
possession of Captain John Brady's land, now Frederick's, adjoining 
Mortonsville. Brady held it, and it was in possession of his widow 
until 1783. The family lost it after her death, and Morton became 
owner. 

I copy, as a curiosity, a deed for a tract of land now owned by 
David Heinly, in White Deer township, near New Columbia : 

"I promise to deliver to Valentine Lees, his heirs or assigns, a 
convience for fifty aciers of land adjoining Rees' grief and John 
Cox, and to agine when surveyed to land belonging to Valentine 
Lees, which warent was entered some time last Spring in My own 
name, and for the performance I bind myself, my heirs, in the sum 
of one hundred pounds, if in consequence of the said Lees pein me 
5 pound 10 shillings of cash and one pair of lether britches to the 
valy of one pound 11 shillings. Witness my hand this 26th day 
of August, 1773. 

Hawkins Boone. 

Witness present : Samuel Young. 

William McMurray, of Sunbury, made many surveys in the Valley 
this year. The Leonard Welker, East Buffalo, nth May; Fred- 
erick Deel, on Penn's creek, near Centreville bridge ; James Watson, 
east of Wehr's tavern, on 13th; Thomas Procter, on Penn's creek, 
Robert Jewel, Joseph Alston, Samuel Breck, James Barnes, ditto'; 
Philip Cole tract, McMurray and Grant, &c., in Hartley township. 



1774.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 53 

William Black settled on Black's run, in Kelly township, and was 
a juror this year. 

Extract from a manuscript journal of Richard Miles, (who died in 
Centre county many years ago,) April 20, 1773 : "Started for Sha- 
mokin, in company with James and Enos Miles, Abel Thomas, and 
John Lewis," (from Radnor, Chester county.) They passed up the 
river, stopping at Malone's, Huling's, Muncy Hill, Wallis's, Loyal- 
sock, Lycoming, Pine creek. Great Island, and returned, by way of 
the Narrows, down through Buffalo Valley, to Tarr's Mill, where they 
got a horse shod; thence they went to Huling's, (Milton now;) 
thence down the river to the Fort, (Augusta.) 

In June a large body of armed men from Connecticut attempted 
to dispossess the inhabitants of the West Branch. This attempt was 
successfully resisted by the posse of the neighborhood, only to be 
renewed in 1774. 



>7>7 



1774. 




Potter Township Erected — Political Documents — Cross-Roads Church 
Titzell's Mill — Ennion Williams' Journal. 

|OHN PENN, Governor. Samuel Hunter, Member of 
Assembly. 4th April, Robert Fruit and Thomas Hewitt 
sworn as County Commissioners. William Gray elected 
in October. 

Officers of Buffalo : James Young, Constable ; James Park and 
Michael Hessler, Supervisors, the latter lived where Crotzerville now 
stands ; Hawkins Boone and John Foster, Overseers. In February, 
William Wilson, (grandfather of Doctor T. H.,) and Samuel Dale, 
appear as jurors. Colonel Kelly was foreman in May. John 
ClgjJter Wilham Hutchinson, grand jurors. 

At May sessions Potter township was erected out of Penn's, Buf- 



Si ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1774. 

falo, and Bald Eagle. Bounded eastward by a north north-west 
line from the top of Jack's mountain, by the four-mile tree on Reuben 
Haines' road, in the Narrows, to the top of Nittany mountain ; thence 
along the top to the end thereof, at Spring creek, on the old path ; 
thence south south-east to the top of Tussey's mountain ; thence along 
the county line, to the top of Jack's mountain, and along the same 
to the beginning. 

To August term one hundred and forty suits were brought. The 
ninety-ninth was Slough vs. Blythe. Margaret Blythe's title was 
confirmed. There was also an ejectment brought by Christian Van 
Gundy vs. Ludwig Derr for the site of Lewisburg. 
<\ In May Daniel Christ settled and made the first clearing on the 
place where C. Sheckler, Esquire, now resides, in West Buffalo. James 
Anderson was then his neighbor, and had an improvement on the 
Matthew Irwin place. Anderson left before the runaway of 1778. 
Irwin took possession after the war. George Books also cleared a 
part of the Sheckler place. 

Political. 

The following letter, found among the papers of Captain John 
Lowdon, discloses the means taken to organize an opposition to the 
encroachments of the mother country upon the liberties of the Amer- 
ican people, which culminated in the Revolution and the Declara- 
tion of Independence, on the 4th of July, 1776 : 

Philadelphia, y?^«^ 28, 1774. 
'^To William Mac lay, William Plunket, and Samuel Hunter, Es- 
quires, Northumberland : 

" Gentlemen ; The committee of correspondence for this city beg 
leave to inclose you printed copies of the resolves passed by a very 
large and respectable meeting of the freeholders and freemen, in the 
State House square, on Saturday, the i8th instant ; and by the fourth 
of these resolves, you will observe that it was left for the committee 
to determine on the most proper mode of collecting the sense of this 
Province in the present critical situation of our affairs, and appoint- 
ing Deputies to attend the proposed Congress. In pursuance of this 
trust, we have, upon the maturest deliberation, determined upon the 
mode contained in the following propositions, Avhich we hope may 



1774.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 55 



meet with the approbation and concurrence of your respectable 
county, viz : 

" ist. That the Speaker of the House of Representatives be desired 
to write to the several members of Assembly, requesting them to 
meet in this city as soon as possible, but not later than the ist of 
August next, to take into consideration our very alarming situation. 
" 2d. That letters be written to proper persons in each county, 
recommending it to them to get committees appointed for their 
respective counties, and that the said committees or such number 
of them as may be thought proper, may meet at Philadelphia at the 
time the Representatives are convened, in order to consult and 
advise on the most expedient mode of appointing Deputies for 
the General Congress, and to give their weight to such as may be 
appointed. 

"The Speaker of the Assembly, in a very obHging and ready 
manner, has agreed to comply with the request in the former of these 
propositions ; but we are now informed that, on account of the 
Indian disturbances, the Governor has found it necessary to call the 
Assembly to meet in their legislative capacity, on Monday, July i8, 
being about the same time the Speaker would probably have invited 
them to a conference or convention in their private capacity. 

"What we have, therefore, to request is that, if you approve of 
the mode expressed in the second proposition, the whole or apart of 
the committee appointed, or to be appointed, for your county, will 
meet the committees from the other counties at Philadelphia, on 
Friday, the 15 th day of July, in order to assist in framing instruc- 
tions, and preparing such matters as may be proper to recommend 
to our Representatives at their meeting the Monday following. 

' ' We would not offer such an affront to the well-known public spirit 
of Pennsylvania, as to question your zeal on the present occasion. 
Our very existence in the rank of freemen, and the security of all that 
ought to be dear to us, evidently depend upon our conducting this 
great cause to its proper issue with firmness, wisdom, and unanimity. 
We cannot, therefore, doubt your ready concurrence in every meas- 
ure that may be conducive to the public good ; and it is with pleasure 
that we can assure you that all the Colonies, from South Carolina 
to New Hampshire, seem animated with one spirit in the common 
cause, and consider this as the proper crisis for having our dif- 



j-6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1774. 

ference with the mother country brought to some certain issue, and 
our liberties fixed upon a permanent foundation. This desirable end 
can only be accomplished by a free communion of sentiments and 
a sincere, fervent regard to the interests of our common country. 

" We beg to be favored with an answer to this, and whether the 
committee from your county can attend at Philadelphia, at the time 
proposed. 

Thomas Willing, Chairman.^' 

On this letter is indorsed, in Joseph Green's handwriting, the fol- 
lowing: "At a meeting of a number of the principal inhabitants of 
the township of Buffalo, at Loudowick Derr's, of Saturday, the ninth 
of July, John Lowdon, Esquire, and Samuel Maclay were chosen 
as committee-men to meet the other committee-men from the other 
townships, on Monday, the nth instant, at Richard Malone's, in 
order to choose proper persons out of the township committees to 
go to Philadelphia to the general meeting of the committees chosen 
by the respective counties of this Province ; and likewise to fix upon 
some proper way and means to correspond with the other commit- 
tees of this Province. 

" By order of the meeting. 

Joseph Green, Clark.'' 

The committees that met on the nth, at Richard Malone's, 
selected William Scull and Samuel Hunter to represent Northumber- 
land county, at the Provincial meeting, at Philadelphia. This meet- 
ing convened in Carpenter's Hall, at Philadelphia, on Friday, the 
15th day of July : Thomas Willing, chairman, and Charles Thomp- 
son, secretary. William Scull was of the committee to draft 
instructions to the Assembly. The resolutions were as follows, 
(Some passed unanimously, indicated by "U;" in case of difference 
of sentiment, the question being determined by the Deputies voting 
by counties :) 

" U. I. That we acknowledge ourselves and the inhabitants of 
this Provmce liege subjects of His Majesty King George III, to 
whom they and we owe and will bear true and faithful allegiance. 

" U. 2; That as the idea of an unconstitutional independence of 
thi parent state is utterly abhorrent to our principles, we view the 
unhappy differences between Great Britain and the Colonies with 



1774.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 57 

the deepest distress and anxiety of mind, as fruitless to her, grievous 
to us, and destructive of the best interests of both. 

"U. 3. That it is, therefore, our ardent desire that our ancient 
harmony with the mother country should be restored, and a perpetual 
love and union subsist between us, on the principles of the constitu- 
tion and an interchange of good offices, without the least infraction 
of our mutual rights. 

"U. 4. That the inhabitants of these Colonies are entitled to the 
same rights and liberties within these Colonies that the subjects 
born in England are entitled to within that realm. 

"U. 5. That the power assumed by the Parliament of Great Britain, 
to bind the people of these Colonies, 'by statutes in all cases what- 
soever,' is unconstitutional, and, therefore, the source of these 
unhappy differences. 

^'U. 6. That the act of Parhament for shutting up the port of 
Boston is unconstitutional ; oppressive to the inhabitants of that 
town ; dangerous to the liberties of the British Colonies ; and, there- 
fore, that we consider our brethren at Boston as suffering in the 
common cause of these Colonies. 

" U. 7. That the bill for altering the administration of justice, in 
certain criminal cases, within the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 
if passed into an act of Parliament, will be as unconstitutional, 
oppressive, and dangerous as the act above mentioned. 

" U. 8. That the bill for changing the constitution of the Province 
of Massachusetts Bay, established by charter, and enjoyed since the 
grant of that charter, if passed into an act of Parliament, will be 
unconstitutional, and dangerous in its consequences to the American 
Colonies. 

" U. 9. That there is an absolute necessity that a Congress of 
deputies from the several colonies be immediately assembled, to 
consult together and form a general plan of conduct to be observed 
by all the Colonies, for the purpose of procuring relief for our suffer- 
ing brethren, obtaining redress of our grievances, preventing future 
dissensions, firmly establishing our rights, and restoring harmony 
between Great Britain and her Colonies on a constitutional founda- 
tion. 

" U. 10. That although a suspension of the commerce of this 
large trading Province with Great Britain would greatly distress 



S8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1774. 

multitudes of our industrious inhabitants, yet that sacrifice, and a 
much greater, we are ready to offer for the preservation of our liber- 
ties. But in tenderness to the people of Great Britain, as well as of 
this country, and in hopes that our just remonstrances will at length 
reach the ears of our gracious Sovereign, and be no longer treated 
with contempt by any of our fellow-subjects in England, it is our 
earnest desire that the Congress should first try the gentler mode 
of stating our grievances, and making a firm and decent claim of 
redress. 

"II. Resolved by a great majority, That yet, notwithstanding, as 
an unanimity of counsels and measures is indispensably necessary 
for the comnlon welfare, if the Congress shall judge agreements of 
non-importation and non-exportation expedient, the people of this 
Province will join with the other principal and neighboring Colonies 
in such an association of non-importation from and non-exportation 
to Great Britain, as shall be agreed on at the Congress. 

"12. Resolved by a majority, That if any proceedings of the Par- 
liament, of which notice shall be received on this continent, before 
or at the General Congress, shall render it necessary, in the opinion 
of that Congress, for the Colonies to take further steps than are men- 
tioned in the eleventh resolve, in such case the inhabitants of this 
Province shall adopt such further steps and do all in their power to 
carry- them into execution. 

"U. 13. That the venders of merchandise of every kind within the 
Province, ought not to take advantage of the resolves relating to 
non-importation in this Province or elsewhere, .but they ought to 
sell their merchandise which they now have, or may hereafter im- 
port, at the same rates they have been accustomed to do within three 
months last past. 

" U. 14. That the people of this Province will break off all trade, 
commerce, and dealing, and will have no trade, commerce, or deal- 
ing of any kind with any Colony on this continent, or with any city 
or town in such Colony, or with any individual in any such Colony, 
city, or town, which shall refuse, decline, or neglect to adopt and 
carry into execution such general plan as shall be agreed to in Con- 
gress. 

"U. 15. That it is the duty of every member of this committee to 
promote as much as he can the subscription set on foot in the sev- 



1774.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 59 



eral counties of this Province for the relief of the distressed inhab- 
itants of Boston. 

"U. i6. That this committee give instructions on the present 
situation of public affairs to their Representatives who are to meet 
next week in Assembly, and request them to appoint a proper num- 
ber of persons to attend a congress of Deputies from the several 
Colonies, at such time and place as may be agreed upon, to effect 
one general plan of conduct, for attaining the great and important 
ends mentioned in the ninth resolve." 

The instructions are too long to be copied. They commence, how- 
ever, with a recital that the dissensions between Great Britain and 
her Colonies commenced some ten years since, and arose from the 
power claimed by Parliament to bind the people of the Colonies by 
statutes, in all cases whatsoever, when from local circumstances 
they could not be represented in it. The object of the convention 
of Deputies is stated to be to obtain a renunciation on the part of 
Great Britain of all powers under the statute of 35 Henry 8th, cap. 
2 — of all powers of internal legislation, of imposing taxes or duties, 
internal or external, and of regulating trade, except with respect to 
any new articles of commerce, such as silk, wine, &c., which the 
Colonies may hereafter raise, reserving the right to carry these from 
one Colony to another j to obtain a repeal of all statutes for quarter- 
ing troops in the Colonies, or subjecting them to any expense on 
account of such troops; of all statutes imposing duties to be paid in 
the Colonies, that were passed at the accession of his present 
Majesty, or before this time, which-ever period shall be judged most 
advisable ; of the statutes giving courts of admiralty in the Colonies 
greater power that the courts of admiralty have in England ; of the 
statutes shutting up the port of Boston and affecting the Province of 
Massachusetts Bay. Offering, in case this was agreed to, to settle a 
certain annual revenue on His Majesty, his heirs and successors, and 
to satisfy all damages done to the East India Company — the execu- 
tive powers of the crown to retain their present full force and oper- 
ation, and we to receive all manufactures from Great Britain, and 
in case of war, to contribute all aid in our power. In the event of 
a refusal of these terms, agreements of non-importation and non- 
exportation were recommended, "and a continual claim and asser- 
tion of our rights." 



(>o ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1774. 

These proceedings being communicated to the General Assembly, 
it took up and promptly (2 2d July) passed a resolution " that there 
is an absolute necessity that a Congress of Deputies from the several 
Colonies be held as soon as conveniently may be, to consult upon 
the unhappy state of the Colonies, and to form a plan for the pur- 
pose of obtaining redress of American grievances, &c., and for 
establishing that union and harmony between Great Britain and the 
Colonies which is indispensably necessary to the welfare and happi- 
ness of both." 

During this year Catherine Smith, widow of Peter Smith, com- 
menced building a grist and saw-mill near the mouth of White Deer 
creek, which she completed in 1775. See her statement, year 1785. 

5th July, Robert Fruit and Thomas Hewitt, county commissioners, 
at the request of Ludwig Derr, who desired to borrow money from 
the loan office, valued the land, three hundred and twenty acres, 
(now the site of Lewisburg,) " on which said Derr now lives, having 
a grist and saw-mill, dwelling-house and barn, clear upland and 
meadow, at ;^i,ooo, Pennsylvania currency." On 7th, their sworn 
valuation of Robert Clark's, now Judge HummePs, two hundred 
and fourteen acres, et al., dwelling-house, and barn, was ^429; 
Walter Clark's, (Slifer place,) one hundred and eighty-eight acres, 
dwelling-house, and barn, £,$6/^; Aurand mill tract, (now Jenkins,) 
grist-mill, two pair stones, saw-mill, dwelling-house, and barn, two 
hundred and twenty-eight acres, at ^700. 

Buffalo Cross-Roads Presbyterian Church. 

We come now to the first record evidence in regard to Buffalo 
Cross-Roads church. December 1 7, Edward Shippen and Joseph, 
his brother, by a written agreement, on the application of some of 
the inhabitants of Buffalo Valley, agreed to give a lot of five acres, 
to be laid off at the north-east corner of the Edward Bonsall tract, 
including a spring, for the purpose of erecting a meeting-house 
thereon for the Presbyterian congregation. The building was 
probably erected the ensuing year. The only clew I can find is a 
receipt among my grandfather's papers dated December 23, 177S, 
to William Rodman for ten pounds, being in full of a subscription 
lodged in his hands for building a meeting-house in Buffalo Valley, 



1774.1 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 6i 

signed William Clark, Thomas Hutchinson, who were probably the 
building committee. In 1797 the Shippens made a deed to Samuel 
■ Dale and David Watson, trustees appointed by the congregation for 
that purpose. The courses and distances are important, as the land 
has been encroached upon. Beginning at a white oak; thence by 
land then vacant, now (1797) said to belong to Francis Zellers, N. 
51° E. 20 perches, to white oak; thence S. 39° E. 40; thence S. 
51° W. 20; thence N. 39° W. 40; "for the use of such person 
or persons who now are, and from time to time hereafter shall be, 
inhabitants of said Valley, members of and forming together a 
Presbyterian congregation, to have a meeting-house for worship and 
a place of burial thereon, and for ?io other purpose. ^^ Deed book 
''C," page 81, Union county. 

It seems from Doctor Greer's statement that the church received 
an additional grant of five acres adjoining, of the " Isaiah Althouse" 
tract, either of Henry Vandyke or Francis Zeller, former owners. 
The old church was accordingly built on both tracts and the one half 
on land now claimed by Daniel Reugler, as an inspection of the old 
foundation will show, and many persons were buried in Mr. Reugler's 
field. The Althouse tract was patented to Henry Vandyke, 14th of 
December, 1774. On the same day he sold off to Captain John 
Foster nineteen acres and ninety-four perches, adjoining Foster's. 
Henry Vandyke's will, dated i8th October, 1782, wills his mansion, 
farm and tan-yard to John. John and Martha, his wife, sell to 
Francis Zeller two hundred and eighty-nine acres. This would, 
therefore, include the alleged five acres given to the church. It is 
probable, therefore, that Francis Zeller was the donor, and the 
addition made in- 1789 to the building was put on that part. 

Flavel Clingan says "the old church had three doors and nine 
windows, one immediately behind the pulpit and two on each of 
the ends and sides. Part of the church covered where the present 
pulpit is, and extended out into the fields behind the present church, 
that it was put on the line of the two grants of five acres each, and 
the careless trustees lost five acres when Mr. Reugler bought." 

Surveys, &c. 

Among the surveys made this year in " Upper Moreland," as 
Hartley township territory was then called, William McMurray, on 



^ 



62 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1774. 

the 3TSt of May, surveyed the Jacob Young and Conrad Weiser 
tracts; also Anthony Fricker and Daniel Levan ; June 2, Philip 
Cole tract, adjoining Jacob Landis. 

In this year William McCandlish, senior, and Samuel Martin 
came from North Britain, and settled on the Billmyer place, after- 
wards Gebhart's, and the place now owned by Joseph Meixell's 
heirs ; which Martin sold to George May, who sold it to Thomas 
Wilson, (grandfather of Francis Wilson,) 30th July, 1793. 

James Young settled on the place now owned by David Gross, in 
Union township. Isaac Hanna, a gunsmith, from Lancaster, bought 
it in 1 780 for ;^6oo. Three hundred and nine acres, et al. 

The Weyland place, (now George F. Miller, Esquire,) in Kelly, 
was valued at 40^. per acre by witnesses. 

Tiizell's Mill. 

I St of December is the date of the deed from William Robb and 
Olive, his wife, to Henry Titzell, for fifty acres on Little Buffalo 
creek, the mill tract now owned by Jonas Rauch, in White Deer 
township. The mills were built during this winter, as he is assessed 
in 1775 with grist and sawmill. Titzell's mill was a rendezvous 
during the Revolution, and a station of the defenders of the fron- 
tiers. 

Titzell never returned from Cumberland county after the great 
runaway of 1778, and we find Nagel Gray, of Northampton county, 
in possession in 1783, and a conveyance from Titzell to Gray on 
the 5th of May, 1 786. Gray died the same year, and his son John 
took the tract, who, with Jane his wife, sold to George Reniger on 
the 1 8th of April, 1796. Reniger failed, and it went by the name 
of Kelly's mills for a long time after, until Mr. Ranch's purchase. 

Deaihs. 

Joseph Rotten, of Buffalo, died this year. His will is the first 
one recorded at Sunbury, on 4th August. He left a widow, Mary, 
children, Thomas, Roger, and Elizabeth, He lived up Penn's 
creek, near White springs. Samuel Mathers and James McCoy 
witnessed it. 

Thomas McGuire also died in June. He left a son, Francis. 



1774.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 63 



Major Ennion Williams' Journal. 

Ennion Williams, afterwards major of Colonel Miles' rifle regi- 
ment, kept a journal of a trip to the frontiers. The original is in 
possession of Captain A. H. McHenry, the noted surveyor of Jersey 
Shore, from which I extract : 

"October 19, at Fort Augusta, Messrs. Scull, Maclay, Hunter, 
Troy, &c., entertained me in a very kind and friendly manner. 
October 25, started for Kishacoquillas valley, with William Foster; 
forded the river, and arrived at Wolfe's tavern, two miles from Sun- 
bury, (this must have been at Shamokin dam,) where I took sud- 
denly sick. A person in the next room played so pleasantly on a 
violin, and with such an effect, I was soon able to get up. We 
then passed through a level country to Michael Swingle's, eight 
miles ; thence to Is. Dalton's, on Middle creek. The land here is 
good. We lately sold it for ;^ioo per hundred acres. We passed 
through Potter's tract, which is very fine land, and John Swift's 
land, which is very good. Several friends settled above this. The 
land is well timbered — walnut, black oak, and maple — and a very 
pretty valley, called Beaver Dam valley. 27th, slept at Nathaniel 
Hazen's on a chaff bed on the floor ; breakfast — elegant milk, butter, 
pumpkin butter, Indian corn, and venison. (Snyder county fare in 
the olden time.) Then rode nine miles through a valley between 
JackVmountain and Limestone ridge. 

" We crossed the run on which is our one hundred and fifty-nine 
acres, with a mill seat. The stream is now pretty large. The land is 
stony, but very well timbered. October 27, Hazen tells me that 
Reed has got (within this twelve months) a warrant for the hundred 
and fifty-nine acres, and that he intends to build a mill there, in 
spite of any person. They say that he is a scheming fellow, and 
that he has taken out warrants for other person's lands, as well as 
ours. We dined in the shade of a tree, screened from the remark- 
able heat of the sun, and fed our horses on a blanket near a run, 
and eat heartily of our hard cakes and solid venison. We continued 
up this valley, and passed by some good bottoms, with poplar, wal- 
nut, and shelbark, &c. ; but there are no large bodies together. 
The road is very stony for several miles, yet level, and the land well 
timbered. 



(>4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

'' Foster's, and the land near it, is very good wheat land, and but 
little meadow. We passed in sight of our two hundred acres on a 
branch of Jack's creek, in the name of D. Beveridge, and the land 
near is very good meadow ground." The D. Beveridge tract he 
describes as situate on Mitchel Springs, which empties into Jack's 
creek about two miles from Kishacoquillas, (probably now in Deca- 
tur township, Mifflin county.) 

On the 19th of July a petition was presented to the Assembly from 
the inhabitants of Northumberland county, stating that the county 
was but thinly inhabited, and had within the hmits of its jurisdiction 
a great body of intruders from the Colony of Connecticut, who 
refused subjection to the government, and that they found them- 
selves unable to enforce the laws, through the want of a proper goal ; 
whereupon an act was promptly passed, on the 23d, granting ^800 
out of the treasury to build a goal. 



l^rg. 




Pennsylvania Convention — Assessment List of Buffalo — Revolution- 
ary Struggle Inaugurated — Roll of Captain John Lowdon's and 
Captain James Parr's Companies. 

fOHN PENN, Governor, Samuel Hunter, member of 
Assembly. On the 20th of May, James Potter was re- 
turned, and took his seat as additional member of Assem- 
bly. Samuel Hunter and William Plunket presided in 
turn over the courts. 29th July, Samuel Maclay, Robert Robb, 
John Weitzel, and Henry Antis, Justices of the Quarter Sessions, 
&c. March 1 7, Alexander Hunter was appointed Collector of Excise, 
vice Thomas Lemmon. 12th October, William Scull was commis- 
sioned Sheriff; Samuel Harris, Coroner. County Commissioners, 
Casper Reed, William Gray, Esquire; County Assessors, Paul Ged- 
des, George Wolfe, Joseph Green, James McClure, John Weitzel, 



1775.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 65 

dxA James McClenachan. Ofificers of Buffalo : Constable, Henry 
Vandyke ; Overseers, John Thompson and John Aurand ; Supervi- 
sors, Robert„Clark and Henry Pontius. 

On^e'2 3d of January the convention for the Province of Penn- 
sylvania assembled at Philadelphia, and continued until the 28th. 
■ William Plunket, Esquire, and Casper Weitzel, Esquire, representing 
the county of Northumberland. 

This convention approved of the proceedings of the Continental 
Congress, recommended a law prohibiting the future importation of 
slaves into the Province; resolved to afford all necessary assistance 
and relief in case the trade of the city of Philadelphia should be sus- 
pended in consequence of the struggle ; that it was the earnest wish 
to see harmony restored between Great Britain and the Colonies, 
but in the event the former should determine to effect a submission 
by force to the late arbitrary acts of Parliament, it was our indis- 
pensable duty to resist such force, and at every hazard to defend the 
rights and liberties of America. 

It was resolved to kill no sheep under four years old, or sell such 

to the butchers, and the setting up of woolen manufactures, especi- 
ally for coating, flannel, blankets, rugs, &c., was recommended; 
also, the raising of madder and dye stuffs, flax and hemp, making of 
salt and saltpeter, gunpowder, nails and wire, making of steel, 
paper, setting up manufactures of glass, wool, combs, cards, copper 
in sheets, bottoms and kettles. It was further recommended to the 
inhabitants to use the manufactures of their own and neighbor- 
ing Colonies, in preference to all others ; and that a manufacturer or 
vender of goods who should take advantage of the necessities of the 
country to raise prices should be considered an enemy to his 
country. 

At February sessions, Samuel Maclay, Henry Pontius, William 
Irwin, and William Gray reported the first public road ever laid out 
by order of court through the Valley. Haines' road ran from 
Northumberland, by way of Dry valley, crossing into Limestone 
township now, and along Penn's creek, and by way of the Narrows, 
into Penn's valley, where he owned large tracts of land about 
Aaronsburg ; but this was a private enterprise. His four mile tree is 
referred to as a landmark ever since his day, standing in the center 
of the Narrows. The road we now speak of commenced on Lud- 



66 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

wig Derr's land, about fifteen perches above where Christian Het- 
rick * now Hves, at a hickory on the West Branch of the Susque- 
hanna, and ran the following courses and distances : S. 85 ° W. 
742, to white oak, W. 156 post; N. 85° W. 80, pine; S. 85° W. 
300; S. 70° W. 550, pine; S. 82° W. 224, black oak; S. 67° W. 
174, white oak; S. 74° W. 138, pine; S. 49°. W. 138; S. 62° W. 
419; S. 75° W. 168; S. 85° W. 158, white oak; N. 87° W. 98; 
S. 71° W. 136; S. 85° W. 266; S. 75° W. 116, white oak: 
twelve miles twenty-eight perches. After protracting, I found the 
course to correspond with the site of the road as described by old 
citizens, viz : Leaving the river at Strohecker's landing, it passed 
up his lane and by an old house that formerly stood in the south- 
west corner of Adam Gundy's field ; thence along the line between 
John G. Brown and J. M. Linn, or near it, to and through Mortons- 
ville, through or by the site of Ellis Brown's new house, to a white 
oak about one hundred rods west of his house. Thus far one course. 
Thence it curved about the hill, and ran in front of Frederick's, where 
stood the pine ; and thence by Schrack's it ran straight, crossing the 
present turnpike beyond Biehl's tavern. It then ran north of the 
turnpike a little distance ; thence along its site to another pine which 
stood near where the Great Western hotel now stands ; thence it fol- 
lowed the turnpike site until it reached its terminus, where the Orwig 
mill road now comes out upon the turnpike, east line of Jane 
Little warrantee, one hundred and twenty rods west of the offi- 
cers' survey. It was ordered to be opened thirty-three feet. 

Inhabitants in 1775. 

It appears, from a memorandum made by Daniel Montgomery, in 
1 781, that the county assessments were carried off to Paxton (Har- 
risburg) in 1778, and those of 1773, 1774, and 1776 lost. 

The following list is copied from that of 1775, which is in the 
handwriting of Joseph Green, grandfather of Joseph Green, of 
Lewisburg. I copy it in full. Matter in brackets I have added. 
It enumerates the acres of cultivated land, of horses, cows, sheep, 
slaves, and servants belonging to each settler : 

* His name is sometimes written Espig. He trick resided near the site of John 
Strohecker's present residence. He was afterwards killed by the Indians. (See 
postea, 1781.) 



1775.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



67 





i 


8 


c3 


1^ 








Allen, Samuel 

Aurand, Henry . . . . 
Albright, Jacob . . . 
Aurand, Jacob .... 
Aurand, Daniel. . . . 
Armstrong, William 
Aurand, John 


45 

15 

6 

4 
10 
18 
40 
12 

30 
10 

30 
20 


2 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 


2 
2 
2 
I 
I 
2 

3 

3 

2 

I 
2 




I 




Also grist and saw- 


Books, George .... 
Buchanan, James . . 

Burn, Peter 

Beatty, Alexander. . 


3 

I 






mill. 
[Late A.McClure's, 

now Stolzfus.] 
A new settler. 


Bolender, John . . . 
Beatty, Hugh 








Inmate to Thomas 


Bickel, Henry 

Brunner, Jacob. . . . 
Barnett, Matthew. . 


10 

4 


r 

2 


2 
2 








Sutherland. 
[Now Henry 

Mertz's.] 
Tenant on James 

Bremmer's land. 
Tenant of James 

Bremmer. 
[D. H. Kelly's.] 
[N. W. of New 


Bolender, Henry . . 


15 

20 
4 

30 

50 

6 

50 












Baker, Wendell. . . . 


2 

I 

2 
2 
I 

2 


2 

I 

. 2 
2 
2 

2 


I 






Bashor, John 






Baker, Jacob 








Columbia.] 
[Hoffman's, above 


Brundage, Joseph . . 
Black, Thomas .... 








Datisman's.] 
Stahl's saw-mill, 


^ Boveard, James . . 








[n'r Union ch.] 
[Isaac Eyre, sr.] 
Inmate to James 

Boveard. 

And grist-mill on 


Boveard, William, 








Bower, Casper .... 

Brosius, John 

Boone, Hawkins . . . 
Bennett, William. . 


10 
10 
20 

3 
12 

17 
10 
60 


2 
2 

I 

I 
I 
I 


2 
2 

I 
I 

I 
2 


6 

7 






Blythe, William... 
Bennett, William,jr. ' 


3 






land belonging 

to Wm. Blythe. 

On Wm. Blythe's 


Blue, Frederick. . . . 
Brown, Matthew . . . 






land. 



' Boveard is marked a free man, which, under Markham's charter, indicated an 
elector's qualification. "No person shall be capable ofbeing an elector, or olbeins 
elected, unless of the age of twenty-one, and have fifty acres of land, ten whereof 
being seated or cleared, or be otherwise worth £50, clear estate, and have been 
resident withm the government two years before such election." 



6S 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1775. 



Cornell, Abraham, 
Clark, William . . . . 

Cole, Philip 

Clarke, John 

Crawford, Edward, 

Clark, Walter 

Clark, William. . . . 
Cupples, David. . . . 
Cooper, Robert . . . 

Cook, Henry 

Caldwell, Hugh. . . 
Clark, Robert , . . 
Carson, James. , . . 
Correy, Robert. . . . 
Carter, William. . . . 
Coon, Nicholas. . . . 
Ditelman, Peter . . . 



Duchman, Stephen 

Doudrick, John. . . . 

Derr, Ludwig 

Dale, Samuel 

Doty, Levi 

Davis, John 

Deats, Morris. , . . . 

Deats, David 

Dale, Christian. . . . 
Derr, Yost 



Duncan, David, 
Daniel, Adam. . 



Emerick, David 



Evey, Adam 

Etsweiler, George. . 



IS 
25 
5° 
5 
60 

50 
10 



7 
35 
60 



15 
10 

2 



3 

30 
20 

15 



5 
36 

2 

15 



30 
15 



^ 



Co 



10 

2 



[Coryell ?] 

[Hartleton.] 

[He lived on the 
first farm above 
Mifflinburg ; the 
name of his slave 
was "Mel."] 

Lives with William 
Bennett & crops 
on the shares. 



Inmate to John 

Kelly. 

Poor ; [lived where 
late Jno.Schrack, 
Esquire, lived.] 

Lives on Derr's 
land. 

[Adam Young's.] 

Grist and saw-mill. 



Is a mason; lives 
at Abel Reese's. 

Lives on Peter 
Wilson's place, 
[now Jas. Law- 
son, Esquire's.] 

Lives on L. Derr's. 

Tenant on Colonel 
Francis', below 
Grove's, [now 
W. T. Linn's.] 

[Widow Brown's 
tavern in Union 
township.] 

On Simon Snithers' 
land. 



1775.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



6g 



Eaken, John. . . . 
Elder, Thomas . , 
Eyer, Abraham . 
Evey, Christian . 
Farren, James . . . 
Fought, Jonas. . . 



Fought, Michael. . . 
Frederick, George.. 
Frederick, Peter . . . 
Foster, John, senior, 

Fought, Jacob 

Foster, William. . . . 
Foster, John, junior, 
Fleming, James . . . 

Fruit, Robert 

Fisher, John 

Fisher, Christian . . . 
Fought, Conrad. . . 
Fisher, Samuel .... 

Fulton, John 

Fleming, Hans. . . . 

Filey, John 

Green, Joseph 

trlen, Andrew 

Greenlee, William. . 
Grochang, Jacob . . 
Gundy, Christ., Van 

Gray, William 

Gibson, Andrew. . . 
Green, Ebenezer. . . 
Graham, Edward . . 
Graham, Thomas . . 
Groninger, Leonard 
Grove, Michael. . . . 

Huston, John 

Haines, George. . . . 
Hessler, Michael. . . 

Hessler, John 

Hunter, Samuel, . . 
Hamilton, Robert. , 
Hoy, Philip 



4 

[2 

5 

20 



13 

20 
40 



60 
10 

3 
10 



5 
3 
15 
15 
35 
30 

ID 

10 

49 
10 
60 

100 
10 

100 
4 

ID 
20 

8 

30 
6 

5 

10 
28 
12 



^ 



G 






<i 



On Rob. Clark's. 

Living on James 
Fleming's, (late 
James Dale's.) 

[South Chap. Hoi • 

low.] 
Lives with Jonas. 
~) [These two lived 
j at Cross Roads 

on McCreight's.] 



[Datisman's.] 
[White Deer mills.] 

Ferry. 

Up Black's run. 



[Afterwards Emer- 

ick's.] 
[Heberling's.] 

[Paul Geddes.] 
Ferry. 



Ferry. 

Grist and saw mill. 



70 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



1775.] 



Hiney, Hieronimus 
Hiltman, John. . . . 

Heckel, Andrew. . . 
Hammond, David.. 
Hammond, James.. 

Hunter, James 

Hutchinson, Thos. . 
Hood, Ehzabeth. . . 
Harbster, David. . 
Huling, Marcus. . . 
Irwin, WilHam .... 
Iterburn, Jacob. . . . 
Johnston, Alex .... 

Jordan, WilHam . . . 

Klinesmith, Baltzer, 



Kilday, John 

Keen, Jacob 

Kelly, Lawrence. , 
Leonard Peter, . . , 

Lee, John 

Leech, William . . . 
Lewis, Daniel . . . , 
Laughlin, Samuel , 
Links, Jacob .... 
Low, Cornelius. . 
Leas, Nicholas. . . 
Low, William . . . , 



Luckens, Thomas. 
Lowdon, John. , . . 
Miller, Benjamin. . 
McKelvey, James. 
Moore, James . . . . 



McCashon, John. . 
Miller, Frederick. 
Miller, Jacob 



2 

3 
lo 

40 

50 
50 
20 

5 
24 

5 
20 



15 

10 
5 



15 

20 

35 

9 

30 

25 
40 



25 
50 



4 
25 

7 
5 
2 



^ 



G 






Capt Irwin's place. 
[John Beeber's, on 

Buffalo.] 
[Doctor Dougal's.] 



[Little Buffalo 
creek.] 



Lives on George 
Cribble's land. 

[William Stadden's 
White Deer.] 

Lives on George 
Shultz's land. 

On John Reed's, 
[mouth of White 
Deer creek.] 

On Dr. Wiggins' 
land, [now Ma- 
jor Simonton's.]* 

Freeman. 
Adjoining William 

Clark's. 
On John Boal's 

land, on White 

Deer creek. 
New settler. 

Lives on James 
Thom's land. 

On Joseph Green's 
land. 

Lives on Abram 
Cribble's land, 
[de Haas' large 
tract.] 



1775.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



7^ 



Maclay, Samuel . 
Moor, William. . . 
Myers, Henry. . . 
McCoy, James . '. 
Mathers, Samuel. 
Mitchell, John. . 
McCandlish, Wm 



Martin, Samuel. . 



McClure, Thomas. . 
Moore, Thomas... 



Moore, Henry .... 
Martin, Robert . . . 
McLaughlin, James, 
McGinnet, Charles. 
McMahan, Patrick. 
Mackey, William. . 
McClenachan, Jas. . 
Mason, William. . . 
McComb, John .... 

McGrady, Alex 

McClung, John. . .. 
Martin, George .... 
McCloud, William. 
McDonald, Randall 

Nees, John 

Norcross. John 



Nobel, Robert 

Norconk, Daniel. . . 
Overmeier, George 

Poak, James 

Patton, Hugh 

Pearson, Benjamin.. 

Pontius, John 

Pontius, Henry. . . . 



25 

6 

15 

12 
16 



15 



6 
10 

9 
9 

80 



10 
20 
20 
10 



3 

40 
40 
10 

25 
20 

15 



^ 



a 






Slave aged 20. 



[John Lesher lives 
on site of Mc- 
Candlish's resi- 
dence.] 

[Now farm-house 
of Joseph Meix- 
ell's heirs.] 

On William Arm- 
strong's land, 
[south of New 
Columbia.] 

At Thos. Moore's. 

New settler. 



New settler. 

On Thos. Hutchin- 
son's. 



Lives with John 
Hiltman. 

Lives on Robt. Mc- 
Corley's land. 

On J. Thompson's. 

[Near New Colum- 
bia.] 



72 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1775. 



Pontius, Andrew. . 
Reed, William. . . . 

Reese, Abel 

Rearick, John .... 
Rinehard, George. 

Reed, John 

Rote, George 

Reasoner, John. . . 
Rorbaugh, George, 
Redmond, John . . 
Sutherland, Thomas 
Storms, Christian 

Sierer, John 

Smith, Adam . . . 
Snyder, Michael . 



Scott, John 

Shively, Christian. 
Smith, David .... 



Shively, John, 
Seller, Peter , . 



Sips, Joseph. 



Swartz, Peter. . . . 
Stover, Philip .... 
Smith, Catherine. . 
Sutherland, Daniel. 

Smith, John 

Steen, Alexander. . 
Speddy, William. . 
Shoemaker, Peter. 
Shaw, Hamilton . . 



15 
20 
40 
15 
15 

3 
30 

3 



2 
20 

30 
60 

10 

15 



15 
8 

7 



20 
20 
10 

3 
50 

4 
25 



a 



fs 



^ 



to 



New settler. 
Living at Ludwig 
Derr's. 



[In Limestone, his 
gr'd children still 
occupy the old 
place, near White 
springs.] 

On Rob't. Barber's 
land. 

[The first miller, 
at Barber's lit- 
tle mill, called 
Smith's mill, for 
many years.] 

[ Afterwards cap- 
tured by the In- 
dians, on Esquire 
Lincoln's place. 
He never came 
back.] 

[Lived on late farm 
of D. Henning.] 

[ Hon. George F. 
Miller's place. ] 

[White DeerMills.] 

New settler.. 



1775.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



73 



Sample, John 

Sample, Robert . . . . 
Dreisbach, Martin., 
Dreisbach, Jacob . . 
Dreisbach, Henry. 

Tovvnson, C 

Templeton, Ann. . . 
Thompson, John.. 
Thomas, James . . . . 



Thornbury, Thomas 

Tate, John 

Tate, Joseph 

Titzell, Henry. . . 

Thom, James 

Thompson , Robert 
Tavler, Joseph. . . . 



Varner, Daniel . . . 
Vandyke, Henry. . 
Wilson, John ..... 
Wilson, Matthew. 
Wilson, Peter .... 
Wolfe, George . . . 
Welker, Leonard. . 

Wise, Jacob 

Watson, Pertrick. . . 
Wierbaugh, John . . 
Williams, George . . 

Watson, Hugh 

Wolfe, Andrew. . . . 
Weyland, George. . 

Weeks, Joseph 

Wertz, Dietrich. . . 
Wilson, William . . . 
Young, Matthew . . . 

Young, James 

Young, Samuel . . . . 
Kennedy, Samuel . . 
Kennedy, John . . . . 
Anderson, Thomas . . 
Rodman, Wilham . . 



23 

30 

16 

5 
60 



50 
50 
4 
10 
12 

I 
30 



6 

30 
40 

15 

20 

7 

8 

20 

20 



20 
3 

25 
8 

50 
^5 
10 



12 
60 



03 



Living on JasMc- 
Clenachan's. 



On John Foster's 

land. 
On Ludwig Derr's. 
William Clark's. 

Grist and saw-mill. 



Freeman on John 

Lowdon's. 
New settler. 
[Now Jackson Ri- 

shel's.] 



On Robert Barber's 
land. 



LudwigDerr's land. 



New settler. 
[Now Rev. J. Ro- 
denbaugh's.] 

[Dry valley.] 
On Wm. Blythe's. 



74 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1775. 



Row, Joseph 

Johnston, John. . . . 
Wildgoose, Michael 
Glover, John 



^ 



30 

8 

4 

5 



^ 



G 



Vi 

<>2 



^ 



^ 



Whole number of acres cultivated in the Valley, four thousand 
three hundred and eighty-three ; total horses, three hundred and 
forty ; cows, four hundred and fourteen ; sheep, one hundred and 
forty-one ; taxable inhabitants, two hundred and sixty ; six grist and 
saw-mills, and five slaves. 

In the summer of 1873, Jo^^^^ Lesher tore down the old house, 
known many years as Billmyer's tavern, and afterwards as " Geb- 
hart's. ' ' On taking off the more modern weather-boards, a log build- 
ing, about forty-four feet square, was disclosed. In the logs were 
marks of arrows,- and many bullet holes. Between the flooring he 
found a shingle, on which was written, "James Taler ; built, 1775," 
the name, no doubt, of the carpenter, as William McCandlish was 
the owner. William McCandlish died in the fall of 1 783, and it was 
sold, in 1784, to Andrew Billmyer, (grandfather of Philip Bill- 
myer, of Lewisburg,) who sold it on the 21st of May, 181 2, to 
Philip Gebhart. It was the place of rendezvous for the people in 
the lower end of the Valley during the subsequent Indian troubles, 
1776-1783. • 

In 1815, Michael Shirtz's deposition was taken, in a suit between 
John Hoy and John Stees. He said he came to live in the neigh- 
borhood in 1775. That the land in dispute between them was then 
occupied by Michael Snyder, (east end of Peter Wolfe's warrantee.) 
He had cleared eight or nine acres and had grain in. It adjoined 
what was called the " Switzer tract," surveyed in the warrantee 
name of John James LeRoy, and between it and the Limestone 
ridge. Snyder occupied it until the country was drove by the In- 
dian, 1778 and 1779. After that, Martin Rinehart bought the land, 
and sold part to Andrew Pontius and part to Christopher Boohave, 
(Bogenreif.) That the first year the settlers returned after the war, 
he saw Andrew Pontius in possession of it, inclosed in fence and 



1775.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 75 

grain growing upon it. The latter sold to John Stees. The 
deponent moved to the territory of Ohio in 1800. 

In the spring of 1775, Yost Hoffman, of Lancaster county, black- 
smith, bought of Jacob Baker, the place next above Datisman's. 
His descendants still occupy it. John Forsyth, a deputy for Wil- 
liam Maclay, made quite a number of surveys this year. These 
and other surveys are noted, because they show what lands were yet 
unsettled. The Richard Manning for John Lee, on the river next 
above the Proprietaries, in Monroe township now. 25th March, 
the addition to John Foster's order, in the name of John Umstead, 
near Farmersville. 29th, Jacob Long's, a little north-east of Har- 
tleton. 31st March, 1775, took Daniel Long's note for surveying 
fee, ^2 los. The William Kelly, on Buffalo mountain, ist April. 
Jacob Haines, in Union, lately owned by Major Gibson, 6th May. 
Aaron Levy on Buffalo mountain. "North line open," he says. 
No wonder subsequent surveyors could not find it. 

12th July, Nehemiah Breese, of Sunbury, surveyed the John 
Sneagon tract, now Chappel's Hollow, then called Haverly's gap. 
Whoever tabled his notes, (he died not long after,) and made the 
return of survey, made the N. 20° W. line from the pine one hun- 
dred perches, instead of sixty, to chestnut, which produced a great 
dispute afterwards between Abraham Eyer and John Brown. 

12th August, Breese surveyed the Thomas Smith tract for Joseph 
Green, on which the latter built his mill, latterly known as Bellas', 
on Penn's creek, below White spring. He says, not finding the ad- 
joining surveyed line on the west of Craig's survey, to extend by the 
supposed adjoining lands, to include the above quantity to post, 
thence an open line by vacant land, to make the beginning. One 
Nees lived on the west of this open line. When Green's land was sold 
at sheriff's sale, in August, 1784, it was supposed to include Nees' 
improvement, and so sold by Mr. Awl, who bought at the sheriff's 
sale, to Badger, so that twenty acres now owned by Miller, Smith, 
and others, near White spring, has been occupied, bought and sold 
over and over again for a century, without any title from the Com- 
monwealth. 

27th August, he surveyed a small island for Martin Trester, 
nearly opposite his house, and another one half mile below his house. 



76 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

24th, the Joseph Green, south of Captain T. Green. 8th September, 
Robert Martin, on north branch of Buffalo creek. 8th September, 
the Thomas Graham, adjoining McClenachan, in White Deer, west- 
of George Leiser's. 

Philip Seebold informed me (1872) that George Overmeier, 
senior, John Rearick, Christian Shively, and Michael Focht were 
brothers-in-law. Overmeier settled near where Mr. Seebold still 
lives ; Shively, at the mouth of White Spring run ; Rearick, near 
Wehr's tavern ; Focht, in Dry valley ; and added the singular fact, 
that he, Seebold, owned at one time the Overmeier, Rearick, and 
Focht homesteads. He is a grandson of George Overmeier. Con- 
rad Sharp settled upon his tract, in Union township, west of Joseph 
Shannon. — See case reported, 4 Yeates, 266. 

The Revolutionary Struggle Inaugurated. 

SuNBURY, 20th April, 1775. 

Gentlemen : The time is at hand when the spirit of Americans 
that love liberty and constitutional principles will be put to the 
trial. What has been by them in their different resolves avowed 
must, perhaps, at last be put in execution. The late alarming news 
just received from England (which we may depend upon) informs 
that the British Parliament are determined by force to put in execu- 
tion every of their supreme edicts, as they style them, together with 
their late oppressive acts, which we have so long, and with so little 
or no effect, hitherto complained of. We consider it absolutely neces- 
sary to have a general meeting of the whole county, in order to form 
some regular plan, in conjunction with our countrymen, to give 
every opposition to impending tyranny and oppression, either by 
force or otherwise. The time of meeting, we think, will be best on 
the first day of May next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, and the 
place most convenient, at Vandyke's, near Beaver run, in Buffalo 
Valley. We do, therefore, earnestly request that you will immedi- 
ately, on the receipt hereof, in the most expeditious manner^ notify 
the inhabitants of your township of this matter, and insist on their 
attendance without fail there on that day. The place of meeting is 
such where we cannot expect much accommodation. It will be. 



1775.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



therefore, necessary that every man should provide for himself. We 
are your humble servants. 

Signed by order of the committee. 

Cas. Weitzel. 

Directed to John Lowdon, Esquire, and Mr. Samuel Maclay, in 
Buffalo Valley. 

Philadelphia, ^z/«^ 15, 1775. 
Gentlemen: Inclosed are resolves of Congress which we have 
transmitted to you, and request you will use your utmost diligence 
to have as many of the best marksmen procured to enlist as fast as 
possible. They are wanting for immediate service at Boston, and 
we have not the least doubt but the spirit of our people of this Prov- 
ince will induce them without delay to enter into so glorious a 
service. You will please to consult with gentlemen of knowledge 
and interest, as you can, (though not of your committee,) for the 
more speedy raising of the men, and let us know your sentiments 
relative to such gentlemen as may be proper for officers, and such 
as may be agreeable to the men. We hope the counties will advance 
any moneys necessary, as they shall shortly be repaid by Congress. 
The honor of Pennsylvania is at stake, and we have not the least 
doubt but that every nerve will be exerted, not only collectively 
but individually, to carry this matter into instant execution. You 
will see by the attestation to be signed by the men, they are to serve 
one year, unless sooner discharged. This may seem inconvenient, 
as the enlistments will be in one day. The intention is to discharge 
on the first day of July, 1776, unless their service may not be want- 
ing so long, according to the attestation,- which may possibly happen 
to be the case, and they may be discharged this fall. Let the com- 
mittees or officers give certificates far any moneys necessary for the 
service which the Congress will discharge. It is expected that 
Cumberland will raise two companies, York one, Lancaster one, 
Northampton one, and Northumberland and Bedford one. 

You will keep the resolves of Congress as secret as the nature of 
the case will admit, that the arrival of the men at Boston may be the 
first notice General Gage has of this matter. 

The pay of the officers is on the establishment of the whole army ; 
but we beg leave to assure the officers that our interest will be 



y8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

exerted with our Assembly to the utmost to have an addition to 
their pay, so as to be equal to the pay of officers of the same rank 
in the Pennsylvania service last war. 

We are, with esteem, gentlemen, your most humble servants, 
Thomas Willing, John Dickinson, 

James Wilson, Thomas Mifflin, 

Charles Humphreys, George Ross. 

John Morton, 

In Congress, ^?<;«^ 14, 1775. 

Resolved, That six companies of expert riflemen be immediately 
raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia. 
That each company, as soon as conpleted, shall march and join the 
army near Boston, to be there eniployed as light infantry under the 
command of the chief officer in that army. That the pay of the 
officers and privates be as follows : 

A captain, at 20 dollars per M. 

A lieutenant, at 13 J^ dollars per M. 

A sergeant, at 8 dollars per M. 

A corporal, at 7 ^/^ dollars per M. 

A drummer, at 7 1/^ dollars per M, 

A private, at 62/3 dollars per M. 

To find their own arms and clothes. 

That the form of enlistment be in the following words : 

I have this day voluntarily enlisted myself as a soldier in the 
American Continental army for one year, unless sooner discharged, 
and do bind myself to conform in all instances to such rules and 
regulations as are or shall be established for the government of the 
said army. 

Charles Thompson, Secretary. 

True copy: Cas. Weitzel, Secretary. 

On this paper is indorsed the following: "July i, 1775, Corne- 
lius Daugherty enlisted, this day, Robert Tuft, Edward Masters, 
James Garson, George Saltsman, Robert Rickey, Thomas Gilston, 
Robert Liney, Robert Carothers, John Hamberton, Michael Hare," 
in Joseph Green's handwriting. 

I have a copy of Captain Lowdon's commission, which is still in 



1775.1 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 79 

possession of Samuel Wright, at Columbia, furnished by the kind- 
ness of Mr. Thomas Barber's son, who was at school there. It reads : 

In Congress : The Delegates of the United Colonies of New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of New Castle, 
Kent, and Sussex, in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, and South Carolina: 

To John Lowdon, Esquire : 

We, reposing especial trust and confidence in your patriotism, 
valor, conduct, and fidelity, do, by these present, constitute and 
appoint you to be captain of a company of riflemen in the bat- 
talion commanded by Colonel William Thompson, in the army of 
the United Colonies, raised for the defense of American liberty, 
and for repelling any hostile invasion thereof. You are, therefore, 
carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of captain, by doing 
and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And 
we do strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers under 
your command to be obedient to your orders as captain ; and you 
are to observe and follow such orders and directions, from time to 
time, as you shall receive from this or a future Congress of the Uni- 
ted Colonies, or committee of Congress for that purpose appointed, 
or commander-in-chief for the time being of the army of the United 
Colonies, or any other superior officer, according to the rules and 
discipline of war, in pursuance of the trust reposed in you. This 
commission to continue in force until revoked by this or a future 
Congress. 

By order of Congress. 

John Hancock, President. 
Attest : Charles Thompson, Secretary. 

Philadelphia, _/?<{«,? 25, 1775. 

Roll of Captain John Lowdon^ s Company, First Rifle Regiment, 
Commanded by Colonel William Thompson. 

Captain — Lowdon, John. 
First Lieutenant — Parr, James. 
Second Lieutenant — Wilson, James. 



8o ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

Third Lieutenant — Wilson, William ; promoted second lieu- 
tenant January 4, 1776. 

Third Lieutenant — Dougherty, John ; appointed January 4, 1776. 

Sergeants — Hammond, David; McCormick, Alexander; Mc- 
Murray, William; Dougherty, Cornelius. 

Corporals — Henry, Thomas; Edwards, William; ^Dougherty, 
Cornelius; White, John, died January, 8, 1776; Carson, James j 
Cochran, Charles. 

Drummer — Grosvenor, Richard. 

Privates — Adkins, William; All, Joseph, discharged July 31, 
1775 ; Bernickle, John, afterwards sergeant in the German regi- 
ment ; Brady, Samuel, afterwards captain lieutenant Eighth Penn- 
sylvania; Briggs, William; Butler, John, discharged January 25, 
1776; Calhoun, WilKam;. Carothers, Robert; Carson, James, 
advanced to corporal, January 4 ; Casaday, John ; Cealy, Samuel ; 
Clements, David ; Cochran, Charles, advanced to corporal January 
8, discharged July i, 1776, living in Crawford county in 1819; 
Condon, Peter ; Davis, David ; Dean, John ; Eicholtz, John, residing 
in Lancaster in 181 3; Evans, John; Finkboner, Jacob; Ford, 
Charles ; Garson, James ; Ginter, Philip ; Gilston, Thomas ; Hamil- 
ton, John ; Harris, David ; Hare, Michael ; Hempington, Thomas ; 
Henning, Christopher; Humber, William; Jamison, William; Johns, 
Samuel; Johnston, James; Jones, Lewis; Kilday, Thomas; Kline, 
Nicholas ; Ladley, John ; Lowdon, Samuel ; Leek, William ; Lines, 
Robert; Lobden, Thomas; Masseker, Reuben, deserted July 31, 
1775 ; Madock, Moses; Malone, John; Maloy, Charles; McMuUen, 
Alexander; McGonigal, Patrick; McConnell, Cornelius; McCoy, 
Martin ; McCleary, James ; McMasters, Edward, residing in Ly- 
coming county in 1823; Morgan, William; Murray, William; 
Murphy, Timothy ; Murphy, John ; Neely, John, he was captured 
at Fort Freeland, July, 28, 1779, ^^^ taken to Canada; Oakes, 
Daniel; Oliver, John; Parker, Michael; Peltson, Thomas, re-in- 
listed in the First Pennsylvania, and was killed by Joseph Black- 
burn in 1777; Pence, Peter; Ray, John; Richie, Robert; Roach, 
Bartholomew; Robinson, John ; Sands, George ; Saltzman, George; 
Segar, George ; Silverthorn, Henry ; Shawnee, John, (was a Shaw- 
anese Indian, died at Milesburg — see Jones' Juniata Valley, page 
352;) Smith, John, (son of Widow Smith, of White Deer Mills; 



1775.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 8i 

he never came back from the army;) Speddy, James, (lived and 
died at New BerHn;) Sutton, Arad, (Hved on Lycoming creek; 
the first Methodist society in northern Pennsylvania was formed at 
his house, in 1791 ;) Sweeney, James, discharged July 20, 1775; 
Teel, John; Tuft, Robert, discharged October 25, 1775; Valen- 
tine, Philip, discharged July 20, 1775 ; Ward, Peter; Ward, John; 
West, Charles, died January 4, 1776; Whiteneck, Joseph; Wright, 
Aaron, (residing in Reading in 1840;) Youse, John; Young, Robert, 
(died in Walker township. Centre county, in 1824.) 

Quite a large number of this company re-enlisted for three years, 
or during the war, in Captain James Parr's company, first regi- 
ment, commanded by Colonel Edward Hand, who became colonel 
when Colonel Thompson was made brigadier. 

Of the company, Lieutenant Parr rose to the rank of major, 
served brilliantly in command of riflemen under Morgan, at Sara- 
toga and Stillwater, and under Sullivan, in 1779. Second Lieutenant 
William Wilson was promoted captain, March 2, 1777, and con- 
tinued in the army until the close of the war in 1783. . He died at 
Chilhsquaque mills in 181 3, while an associate judge of North- 
umberland county. David Hammond rose to the rank of lieu- 
tenant. He was severely wounded in Wayne's attack upon the 
block-house at Bergen Point, now Jersey City. He died April 2 2 , 
1 801, from the effects of his wound, and is buried in the Chilhs- 
quaque graveyard. He was the father of the late General R. H. 
Hammond, of Milton. Peter Pence was celebrated in border war- 
fare, and figures conspicuously in Van Campen's narrative. Captain 
McHenry informs me he died in Crawford township, Clinton 
county, in 1827. He left a son, John, living in that neighborhood. 

Captain Lowdon's company rendezvoused at Sunbury ; marched 
thence to Reading and Easton ; thence through northern part of 
New Jersey, crossed the Hudson at New Windsor, a few miles 
north-west of West Point ; thence, through Hartford, to Cambridge, 
where it arrived about the 8th of August. McCabe, in his sketches 
of Captain Samuel Brady, has preserved some few incidents of this 
service. He says, on one occasion, Brady was sitting on a fence, 
with the captain, when a cannon ball from a British battery struck the 
fence, and leveled them both. Brady was the first up, saying "we 
are not hurt, Captain." I found in a contemporary newspaper an 
6 



S2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

account of the island fight, to which McCabe alludes, when he 
says: " Lowdon's company was ordered to drive the British from an 
island on which they had landed to forage. Brady was considered too 
young to go along, and left behind ; but, to the astonishment of the 
captain, he followed after, and was the second man on the island." 

November 9, the British landed at Lechmere Point, one and a 
half miles from Cambridge, under cover of a fire from their bat- 
teries on Bunker, Breed, and Copp's hills, as also from a frigate, 
which lay three hundred yards off the point on which they landed. 
The high tide prevented our people crossing the causeway for nearly 
an hour. This time they employed in shooting cows and horses. 
The battalion of Colonel Thompson took to the water, although up 
to their armpits, for a quarter of a mile, and, notwithstanding the 
regular fire, reached the island. Although the enemy were lodged 
behind stone walls and under cover, on Colonel Thompson's 
approach they fled, and although the riflemen followed them to their 
boats with all speed, they could not bring them to an engagement. 
Our loss was one killed and three wounded ; English loss seventeen 
killed and one wounded. — Philadelphia Evening Post, 1775. 

In "The Letters of Mrs. Adams," wife of John Adams, page 61, 
under date 12th November, 1775, is also a notice of this incident : 
"A number of cattle were kept at Lechmere Point, where two 
sentinels were placed. In a high tide it is an island. About four 
hundred men were sent to take the cattle off. As soon as they 
were perceived, the cannon on Prospect hill were fired on them and 
sunk one of their boats. A Colonel Thompson, of the riflemen, 
marched instantly with his men, and though a very stormy day, 
they regarded not the tide nor waited for boats, but marched over 
neck-high in water, when the regulars ran without waiting to get 
off their stock, and made the best of their way to the opposite 
shore. The general sent his thanks in a public manner to the brave 
officer and his men." 

Colonel Thompson's men are thus described in Thacher's Mili- 
tary Journal: "Several companies of riflemen have arrived here 
from Pennsylvania and Maryland, a distance of from five hundred 
to seven hundred miles. They are remarkably stout and hardy 
men, many of them exceeding six feet in height. They are dressed 
in rifle shirts and round hats. These men are remarkable for the 



1775.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 83 

accuracy of their aim, striking a mark with great certainty at two 
hundred yards distance. At a review, a company of them, while 
on a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of seven inch 
diameter, at a distance of two hundred and fifty yards. They are 
now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently proved 
fatal to British officers and soldiers." Journal, pages 37 and 38. 

Philadelphia, August 13, 1775. 

Dear • Sir : — We hope this letter will find you safe at the head 
of your company, acting in support and defense of American liberty; 
a glorious cause, which must stimulate the breast of every honest 
and virtuous American, and force him, with undaunted courage and 
unabated vigor, to oppose those ministerial robbers. We hope the 
contest will be ended where it began, and that the effusion of blood 
may be providentially prevented, but, at the same time, we hope to 
see American liberty permanently established, to have the honor, ere 
long, to serve in her righteous cause ; and we are well convinced 
that these sentiments prevail throughout this Province. You can't 
conceive what a martial spirit prevails here, and in what order we 
are. Two battalions, with the light infantry companies, are very 
expert in all the manoeuvres, and are generally well furnished with 
arms. Several companies of riflemen are formed in this city and 
the adjacent counties, who are become expert in shooting ; besides 
we have sixteen row galleys, with latteen sails, now building. Some 
of them are already rigged and manned. These galleys are rowed 
with from twenty-four to thirty oars, and carry each one gun, from 
eighteen to thirty-two pounds, besides swivel guns, fore and aft. 
We are told by experienced men that these galleys will prevent any 
ship of war from coming up this river. All the coast to Georgia is 
alarmed — prepared to oppose our ministerial enemies. Where, 
then, can these British bastards, those servile engines of ministerial 
power, go to steal a few sheep. God and nature has prescribed 
their bounds. They can't deluge our lands, nor float their wooden 
batteries beyond the bounds prescribed, nor dare they to penetrate 
so as from afar to view those high-topped mountains which separate 
the lower plains from our Canaan, and from whence, should their 
folly or madness prompt them to attempt it, would come forth our 
thousands and tens of thousands, with gigantic strides, to wash the 



84 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775, 

plains with the blood of those degenerate invaders of the liberties 
of mankind. 

We, in conjunction with many others, presented a memorial to 
the Congress, representing the threatened encroachments of the 
Connecticut invaders of our Province. It was well received, and 
the Connecticut Delegates and those of this Province were desired 
to write to their people respectively, and inclosed I send you a copy 
of the Connecticut letter to Wyoming. Stansburyhas in it charge, 
and it seems to be all that honorable body could do in the affair. 

Our partiality for the rifle battalion is so great that we are very 
anxious to hear of their having distinguished themselves in some 
great enterprise. This partiality is natural and allowable, when, from 
one's personal acquaintance with many of their commanders, we can 
and do with martial pride celebrate their distinguished abilities as 
riflemen and soldiers. 

We are, with great esteem, dear sir, your most humble servants, 

Robert Lettis Hooper, junior, 
Reuben Haines. 

Captain John Lowdon. 

P. S. — Present our compliments to Mr. Lukens and Mr. North. 
Mr. Musser desires his compliments to you and them. 

P. S. — August 17. Since the date of this letter Hawkins Boone 
has been down, and says that the Connecticut people have not 
attempted any encroachments lately, and, from circumstances, have 
little reason to think they will. 

Major Ennion Williams (journal before referred to) gives the 
the details of a trip to the camp at Cambridge, under date October 
17. He says : guns of one of our batteries, two miles from Boston, 
firing. One bursted, and killed one man and wounded six. I 
returned thence to the riflemen's camp, and stopped with Captain 
Lowdon over night. At daybreak I awoke, and a few minutes after 
the morning gun fired. All aroused directly; the men repaired 
with arms and accouterments to the forts and lines, and in about ten 
minutes the captains, with their companies, were in the fort, drawn 
along the sides of the fort, and in two or three minutes they began 
their firing. 

The captain stepped on the banket or step, inside at foot of 



1775.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 85 



breastwork, and gave the word, ' 'Make ready !" The front rank step 
on the banket, and second step forward. "Present !" He does not 
give the word "Fire !" but makes a pause. Then they recover, and 
face to right about, and march through the files. At the word ' 'Make 
ready !" again the next rank steps on the banket, and so on continu- 
ually. Every laian is to be sure of his object before he fires, as he 
rests his piece on the parapet. In about a half an hour the flag vi^as 
hoisted. They ceased, and retired by regiments to their quarters, 
and the orderly sergeant read the orders of the day and trials by 
court martial, &c. 

There are numerous notices of this company in the Hand papers 
in the possession of Mrs. S. B. Rogers, of Lancaster, the grand- 
daughter of General Edward Hand, who was lieutenant colonel, 
and afterwards colonel of the First Rifle Regiment. On the 24th of 
October he says : " This morning at dawn Parr, from Northumber- 
berland, with thirty men from us, marched for Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, to defend that place." On the 8th of March : " I am 
stationed on Cobble Hill, with four companies of our regiment. Two 
companies, Cluggages' and Chambers', were ordered to Dorchester 
on Monday ; Ross' and Lowdon's relieved them yesterday. Every 
regiment is to have a standard and colors. Our standard is to be 
a deep green ground, the device a tiger, partly inclosed by toils, 
attempting the pass, defended by a hunter, armed with a spear, (in 
white,) on crimson field. The motto, Domari Noh:'^ 

On the 14th of March, 1776, the company left Cambridge with 
the battalion which was detached by General Washington, with five 
other regiments, under General Sullivan, to prevent a landing of the 
British at New York, when they evacuated Boston. Arrived at Hart- 
ford on the 2ist, and at New York on the 28th. The company was 
stationed on Longjsland during May and until June 30th, when it 
was mustered out of service. 

iThis standard is still in possession of Thomas Robinson, Esquire, grandson of 
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Kobinson, of the First Pennsylvania, and was on exhibi- 
tion at the Centennial, 1876. I identified it by this description, found among the 
Hand papers. 



86 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

Roll of Captains James Parr' s compatiy, enlisted for three years or 
during the war , from July i, 1776. 

Captain — Parr, James, promoted major October 9, 1778. 

First Lieutenant — Wilson, James. 

Second Lieutenant — Wilson, William, promoted captain March 2, 
1777. 

Third Lieutenant — Dougherty, John. 

Sergeants — Hammond, David, (promoted second lieutenant, Sep- 
tember 14, 1777; first heutenant, May 12, 1779,) McCormick, 
Alexander; McMurray, William ; Dougherty, Cornelius. 

Privates — Allen, David ; Bacher, Michael ; Bradley, John ; Calla- 
han, Daniel; Campbell, Daniel ; Condon, Peter ; Conner, James; 
Coons, Mansfield; Davis, David; Dubois, Richard; Delling, Cor- 
nelius; Donahue, Patrick; Edwards, William; Griffin, John; Hag- 
erty, William; Hammond, John; Henry, Philip; Hinson, Aquila; 
Hutchinson, John; Jones, Lewis; Leech, William; Lochry, Michael; 
Loughrey, James; McCleary, James; McConnell, Cornelius; Mc- 
Cormick, Henry ; McGaughey, Hugh ; Malone, John ; Meloy, 
Charles ; Moore, James ; Moore, William ; Morgan, William ; 
Murphy, John; Murray, Patrick; Noishen, John; Norton, George; 
Oliver, John ; Paine, Thomas ; Peltson, Thomas ; Peter, Philip ; 
Rankin, John; Ray, .John; Ryan, William; Saltman, George; 
Scott, Samuel ; Scott, William ; Sprigg, James ; Speddy, James ; 
Stewart, Thomas; Sullivan, Maurice; Thompson, Alexander; Toner, 
John; Warren, George; Washburn, Jonathan; Wilson, Matthew; 
Willson, Samuel; Whiteneck, Joseph; Youse, John. 

Road from Bald Eagle to Sunbury. 

The viewers reported this road at November sessions. I copy so 
much as relates to our Valley, as it indicates the names and resi- 
dence of early settlers : 

' ' From a white oak in the Narrows, between White Deer and 
Buffalo Valleys, two miles ninety-nine perches, to Smith's mills, 
(now Candor's;) thence to white oak, west side of Blythe's mill 
(which was probably nearer the mouth of the creek;) thence to 
McClures, (who lived on Blythe's land ;) thence to a white oak oppo- 
site the lower end of Marcus Huling's island, (Milton bridge 



1775.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ^7 



island;) thence to a plumb at Peter S^^^rtz's, (Miller's place;) 
thence to a stone at Clark's, (late John Kling's ;) thence to a post 
at Robert Fruit's, (Hinely's;) thence to a post at William Gray's, 
(now Paul Geddes' ;) thence to Buffalo creek, (where the iron bridge 
now spans the creek;) thence to a pine near the head of Derr's 
dam ; thence to a pine, corner of Abel Reese's, (/. e. through the 
University grounds, to Adam Gundy and William Brown's corner ;) 
thence to a post at Aurand's barn, (Jenkins' ;) thence to John Lee's, 
(Winfield;) 'thence to Andrew Gibson's; thence to the gum near 
Reuben Haines' road ; thence down the same to the black oak on 
the west bank of the river, opposite Sunbury." 

At the same sessions, the great road up the Valley was extended, 
through the Narrows, to the Great Plains, now in Centre county. 

25th December occurred Plunket's expedition to Wyoming. 
Colonel Kelly and some others from the Valley were along. Jesse 
Lukens, Surveyor General Lukens' son, was killed. The history of 
this expedition, taken from the records at Harrisburg, I will give in 

brief : 

On the 23d of November, the Speaker laid before the Assembly 
a letter from Samuel Hunter, and others, stating that two of the 
magistrates and the sheriff of the county had an interview with 
Zebulon Butler and some others of the principal men among the 
Connecticut settlers at Wyoming, and read the resolves of the 
Assembly to them, and inquired whether they would peaceably 
submit to the laws of Pennsylvania. They answered that they 
despised the laws of Pennsylvania, and never would submit to them 
unless compelled by force. The magistrates received a great deal 
of abuse, and returned a different road from that in which they had 
gone, on account of the risk of their Uves. 

The Assembly, on the 25 th, requested the Governor to issue 
orders for a due execution of the laws of the Province in North- 
umberland county, which the Governor did in a letter of that date 
to the justices and sheriff. The report of the latter to the Gover- 
nor is dated Sunbury, 30th December, 1775, and states that pursu- 
ant to his orders, a number of warrants for the apprehension of a 
number of persons residing at Wyoming, charged on oath with ille- 
gal practices and crimes, were placed in the Sheriff's hands. He 
judged it prudent to raise the posse of the county, and a body of 



88 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1775. 

near five hundred men Accompanied him to the neighborhood of 
Wyoming. They were met by some of the people ; one of whom 
was said to be an officer. The intentions of the sheriff and his posse 
were explained, and that no violence or molestation would be 
offered any one submitting to the laws. The sheriff had proceeded 
but a little further when he was fired upon, and Hugh McWilliams 
was killed and three others dangerously wounded. It was found 
impossible to force a passage on that side of the river, as the Nar- 
rows had been fortified with great care, and were lined with num- 
bers of men, to which ours bore no reasonable proportion. An 
attempt was then made to cross the river in the night, for greater 
secrecy, to reach the settlements of the persons against whom the 
process had issued. When the boats had nearly reached the oppo- 
site shore, and were entangled in a margin of ice, too thin to bear 
the weight of a man, they were, without previous challenge, repeat- 
edly fired upon by a party on top of the bank. Jesse Lukens 
received a mortal wound, of which he is since dead. As a landing 
could not be effected, the boats returned. Baffled in the second 
attempt, and the weather being intolerably severe, and receiving 
information that the parties he desired to arrest were chief in com- 
mand in the breastworks, it was deemed advisable to desist from 
any further attempt. A constant fire was kept upon our men from 
the opposite side, while they retreated through a long narrows. 
One man only, however, was wounded in the arm, &c. 

This report is 'signed by William Scull, sheriff; Samuel Harris, 
coroner; and the justices, William Plunket, Samuel Hunter, 
Michael Troy, and John Weitzel. 



i>l>{6 






White Deer Township Erected — Associators — Second Battalion — 
Colonel Potter — Inhabitants of Penn's — Churches of the Valley — 
Constitutional Convention — Incident at Derr's Trading-House — 
Minutes of the County Committee — Roll of Captain Weitzel's 
Company — Fourth Battalion of Associators — Roll of Captain John 
Clarke's Company — Roster of Twelfth Pennsylvania. 

OHN PENN, Governor, until September 28, when the 
New Constitution went into effect. The surveys, made 
under John Penn's warrants, until December of this 
year, were afterwards legalized. James Potter, addi-' 
tional Member of Assembly. Colonel Samuel Hunter, member of 
the Committee of Safety, at Philadelphia. William Maclay, Prothon- 
otary ; William Scull, Sheriff; County Commissioners, Thomas 
Hewitt, Wilham Gray. 2 2d January, John Weitzel sworn in as 
County Commissioner. Attorneys admitted, William Price Gibbs, 
and William Lawrence Blair. 
i Officers of Buffalo township : Constable, Christian Storms ; Over- 
\j' seers, John Clarke and John Pontius; Supervisors, Joseph Green 
and Jacob Fought. 

At February sessions. White Deer township was set off from Buf- 
falo, by a line beginning at the upper side of Buffalo creek, at its 
mouth ; thence up the same to the mouth of Spruce run ; thence 
up the same to the forks thereof ; thence up the north-east branch 
to the head thereof; thence by a straight line to the four-mile tree, 
on Reuben Haines' road, on the line of Potter township. Its first 
officers were: Peter Swartz, constable; Walter Clark and Matthew 



go ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776, 

Brown, overseers ; Hugh Caldwell and Robert Fruit, supervisors. 
Henry Iddings bought the Parsons' place, adjoining Colonel 
Kelly's, and moved into the Valley. During the summer of this 
year Widow Smith added a boring-mill to her other mills, near 
the mouth of White Deer creek. Here a great number of gun- 
barrels were bored for the Continental army. 

Northumberland, y^x^z^arjK 24, 1776. 

I do hereby certify that at an election for field officers, held at 
Ludwig Derr's, on the West Branch' of the Susquehanna, on Tues- 
day, the 12th day of September last, the following gentlemen were 
regularly chosen for the upper division, of the county of Northum- 
berland, viz : James Potter, Esquire, colonel ; Robert Moodie, 
Esquire, lieutenant colonel ; Mr. John Kelly, first major ; Mr. John 
Brady, second major. 

William Scull, 
Chairman of the Committee. 

A Return of the Names of the Captains and other Offt,cers of the 
several Companies , in the Upper Division of the County of 
Northumberland, with the Ranks of said Companies and member 
of Men. 

Arthur Taggart, first captain, 

Cornelius Atkinson, first lieutenant, \ 

James McClung, second lieutenant, >- 85 privates. 

James Wilson, ensign. ) 

William Gray, second captain, 

William Clark, first lieutenant, \ 

James Murdoch, second lieutenant, V 90 privates. 

William Thompson, ensign. ) 

David Berry, third captain, 

William Hammond, first lieutenant, ^ 

Samuel Dale, fourth captain, 



Israel Parsels, second lieutenant, >- 45 privates. 

Benjamin Burt, ensign. 



William Bennet, first lieutenant, ^ 

Hawkins Boone, second lieutenant, >■ 67 privates. 

Jesse Weeks, ensign. ) 



1776.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Qr 



Cookson Long, fifth captain, 
William Mucklehatton, first lieutenant, 
Robert Fleming, second lieutenant, 
Robert Fleming, junior, ensign. 
Samuel Wallis, sixth captain, 
John Scudder, first lieutenant, 
Peter Jones, second lieutenant, 
James Hampton, ensign. 

James Murray, seventh captain, 
William Murray, first lieutenant, 
Thomas Plunket, second lieutenant, 
Andrew Robinson, ensign. 

Henry Antes, eighth captain, 
Thomas Brandon, first Ueutenant, 
Alexander Hamilton, second lieutenant, 
Simon Cole, ensign. 

John McMillan, ninth captain, 
John McConnol, first lieutenant, 
John McCormick, second lieutenant, 
Charles Wilson, ensign. 

David Hayes, tenth captain, 
Charles Clark, first lieutenant, 
Thomas Gray, ensign. 

PhiHp Davis, eleventh captain, 
James Aspey, first lieutenant, 
John Nelson, second heutenant, 
Jacob Fulmore, ensign. 



59 privates. 



91 privates. 



60 privates. 



58 privates. 



43 privates. 



I 41 privates. 



74 privates. 



NoRTHUMBELRAND, 2 \th January, 1776. 
I do hereby certify the above to be a true return, of the several 
companies, which, form the battalion in the upper division of the 
county of Northumberland, as delivered in to me. 

William Scull, 
Chairman of the Committee. 
To the Committee of Safety of the Province of Pennsylvania. 

The following imperfect list of the inhabitants of Penn's town- 
ship is taken from the duplicate of Christian Seecrist, collector for 
this year, duplicate being mutilated: Adams, George; Albright, 



g2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

Jacob ; Albright, Frederick ; Arnold, Casper ; Arnold, Lawrence ; 
Augustine, Hieronimus ; Ault, Michael ; Bait, Adam ; Bander, 
Adam; Baker, William ; Berst, Peter; Bear, Jacob; Bickel, Tobias ; 
Bomberger, John ; Bower, Peter ; Bower, Henry ; Bright, John ; 
Bressler, Nicholas ; Brouse, John ; Brau, Martin ; Bombach, George ; 
Crean, John ; Hassinger, Jacob ; Hosterman, Peter; Hosterman, 
Jacob, junior ; Jacobs, Joseph ; Jorday, Peter ; Jordan, Philip ; 
Jost, Casper ; Kerstetter, Michael ; Kerstetter, Bastian ; Keller, 
Michael ; Kebler, John ; Kline, Andrew ; Kline, Jacob ; Kline, 
George; Kline, Stophel; Kroo, Godfrey; Kremer, Peter; Kremer, 
Daniel ; Graybill, (Krebill,) John; Kreger, Henry; Krail, Michael; 
Laudenslager, George ; Seiver, Adam, inmate ; Lewis, John, in- 
mate ; Lepley, Michael ; Leist, David ; Lemley, Leonard ; Livin- 
good, Jacob ; Lively, John ; Livelihood, F. ; Livey, Peter ; Lowrey, 
George ; Long, Christian ; Livengood, -George ; Maurer, Law- 
rence ; Maurer, Peter ; Manning Richard ; Markley, Peter ; Mark- 
ley, Simeon; Martin, Frederick; Mensch, Charles; Menich, 
Simeon ; Meiser, Michael ; Meiser, John ; Meiser, John ; Meese, 
Thomas ; Miser, Henry ; Miller, Henry ; Miller, Christian ; Miller, 
Frederick ; Miller, Dewalt ; Miller, George ; Moon, William ; Moon, 
Casper, junior ; Motz, George, inmate ; Motz, John ; Moore, Andrew; 
Moon, Casper, senior; Motz, Michael; Mull, Anthony; Murray, 
Alexander; Myer, Charles; Myer, Jacob, junior; Myer, Jacob, 
senior; Myer, Alexander ; Myer, Stophel ; McQueen, John ; Mc- 
Kean, William ; Newcomer, Francis ; Nees, William ; Newman, 
Jacob; Neff, Jacob; O'Brien, Patrick; Puff, Dewall ; Pyle, Peter; 
Reger, Michael; Reed, John; Reager, Adam, junior; Reichen- 
bach, John, senior ; Reichenbach, John, junior ; Reed, Casper ; 
Ream, John; Riddle, Yost; Richart, Henry; Righter, Christian; 
Right, Ellis ; Row, George ; Row, George, junior ; Row, John ; 
Row, Martin ; Roush, Casper ; Roush, George ; Robert, John ; 
Rush, John ; Ryne, Henry ; Sense, Frederick ; Seecrist, Christian ; 
Schrock, John ; Schrock, George ; Shaffer, Peter ; Shaffer, Andrew ; 
Shaffer, Ludwig ; Sharrett, Jacob ; Sherrick, John ; Shedderly, 
Andrew; Shallenberger, Lawrence; Shock, Mathias ; Simeon, 
Joseph ; Smith, John ; Smith, Nicholas ; Snyder, Harman ; Snyder. 
Simon ; Snyder, Anthony ; Snider, John ; Snevely, Abraham ; 
Swift, John; Spayd, Jacob; Specs, Jacob; Stees, Jacob; Steel, 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. gj 



John ; Stephen, Adam ; Stinley, Daniel ; Stigleman, Jacob ; Straup, 
Peter; Strayer, Mathias ; Strump, Casper; Stroam, Christian 3 
Stock, Melchior; Summerouser, Henry; Sutton, Stephen; Svvengle, 
Michael; Swartz, John; Swift, John; Swoab, George; Trester, 
Martin, junior; Trester, Michael; Truckenmiller, Peter; Trout- 
ner, George; Ulrich, George; Wales, John; Wallace, Samuel; 
Walter, Ludwig; Walter, Jacob; Warfel, Henry; Weaver, Michael ; 
Weiser, Peter, senior; Weiser, Benjamin, Esquire; Weirich, Peter; 
Weirich, William; Whitmer, Peter; Whitmore, Michael; Witten- 
myer, Andrew; WittenmyerTLudwig ; Wing, Hugh; Wise, George; 
Worrah, or Woodrow, Ludwig; Zellar, John; Zerbach, Bartel ; 
Zimmerman, Stophel; Zanzinger, Adam. Single men— Bickle, 
Simon; Dellman, Andrew; Dill, Leonard; Dunkle, Charles; Gar- 
ret, Henry; Havelock, Jacob; Isenhower, Frederick; Kremer, 
Daniel ; Kerstetter, Martin ; List, Andrew ; Maxwell, James ; Me- 
shall, Daniel ; Miller, Conrad ; Myst, John ; Rickert, John ; Stroup, 
John; Snider, Stophel; Stock, Peter; Weaver, John; Zeller, 
Henry. 

The churches in what was called in general Shamokin, on both 
sides of the Susquehanna, about the junction of the North and West 
Branches, namely, Mahony, Sunbury, Middle Creek and Buffalo Val- 
ley, were in existence as early as 1776. l\\ the minutes of Ccetus, 
held in Lancaster, May i, is a minute " that different congregations 
in Shamokin having asked for such an arrangement as to have min- 
isters visit them, it was resolved that ministers should visit them 
occasionally during this year, and preach to them," &c. Harbaugh's 
Fathers of the German Reformed Church, 3d vol., 34th page. The 
German Reformed Church was under the supervision of the church 
in Holland until about the year 1791, and only such ministers were 
received by the church as were either sent over by the Fathers in 
Holland, or had their indorsement. Ibid., 2d vol. 

Convention of 1776. 

In consequence of a circular letter from the Committee of the City 
and Liberties of Philadelphia, inclosing the resolution of the Con- 
tinental Congress of the 15th of May, recommending the adoption 
of the State Government in each of the Colonies, a provincial con- 



94 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY, [1776. 



ference was held at Philadelphia, on Tuesday, June i8. For the 
committee of Northumberland county appeared Colonel William 
Cooke, Alexander Hunter, Esquire, John Weitzel, Robert Martin 
and Matthew Brown. This conference met at Carpenters' Hall, 
and chose Colonel Thomas McKean, President. It was resolved 
unanimously that a convention should be called to form a new 
Government. Qualifications of an elector were fixed as follows : He 
must be twenty-one years of age, have lived one year in the Province, 
and paid either a provincial or county tax, and further, swear that 
he would no longer bear allegiance to George III. To be a member 
of the convention required like qualifications, and further, that he 
must swear that he would oppose any measure that would interfere 
with or obstruct the religious principles or practices of any of the 
good people of the Province ; and still further, sign a declaration of 
faith in the Trinity and in the Divine inspiration of the Old and 
New Testament. 

It was determined that each county should have eight Represent- 
atives or members, the election for whom should be held on 
Monday, the 8th of July, and it passed resolutions to raise four thou- 
sand five hundred militia, to join a flying camp to consist of ten 
thousand men in the middle Colonies, &c. 

The election for Northumberland county was held at George 
McCandlish's,^ (Turbutt.) Thomas Hewitt, William Shaw and 
Joseph Green were the judges. The members elected were : William 
Cooke, James Potter, Robert Martin, Matthew Brown, Walter Clark, 
John Kelly, James Crawford, John Weitzel. The convention met 
on Monday, the 15th of July, in Philadelphia, and Doctor Franklin 
was chosen President. It continued, by adjournments, until the 28th 
of September, when the Constitution was adopted and signed. 

A short statement of its salient points will be of interest, and serve 
to explain the political statistics of these Annals. The law-making 
power was vested in a House of Representatives, the members of 
which were to be chosen annually, by ballot, on the second Tuesday 
of October, to meet on the fourth Monday of the same month. No 
member could serve more than four years. It was to choose the 

iMcOandllsh lived in a log house just baeli of Milton, on the late Samuel Hepburn, 
Esquire's, farm. In July, 1779, Marcus Hulings sold him his tavern stand on the 
river, at the end of Broadway street, Milton, Hulings returning to his old home, 
Duncan's Island.— J. F. Wolfinger, Esquire. , 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 9j 

State Treasurer and Delegates to Congress annually, of which no one 
could be a member more than two years successively, nor be capable 
of re-election for three years afterward. Each county was to be 
entitled to six members until a proper apportionment could be made. 
There was also a provision for the election of a council of censors 
in 1783, and every seven years thereafter, two persons from each 
city and county, whose duty it was to inquire whether the Constitu- 
tion had been violated. 

The execution of the laws devolved upon the President and 
Supreme Executive Council. This consisted of twelve persons, one 
for the city of Philadelphia, and one from each of the eleven coun- 
ties into which the Province was then divided. They were, however, 
chosen by districts. Northampton, Bedford, Northumberland and 
Westmoreland constituting one district, the embryo of the present 
senatorial representation. Every member of Council was a justice 
of the peace for the whole State. The President and Vice President 
of the State were chosen of members of the Council in joint conven- 
tion of the Assembly and Council. The President had the power of 
appointing and commissioning judges, &c., and of sitting as judge 
in impeachment cases, and could grant pardons, &c. The judges 
of the Supreme Court held office for seven years. Two or more 
persons were chosen in each township as justices, and the Council 
commissioned one or more of them for seven years. These justices 
held the several courts. It did not follow, as remarked by Judge 
Duncan, in Albright's case, who was both associate and justice in 
1 81 3, the legality of holding both offices at the same time being 
then tested and affirmed, that the Council should appoint the justices 
of the sessions from the justices elect, though they generally did. 
Two persons were to be voted for for sheriff, one of whom was 
commissioned by the Council. The county commissioners and 
assessors of taxes were to be elected by the people, thus embodying 
in the Constitution the principles for which the Revolution was 
inaugurated, the right of the people to tax themselves. 

The convention, by an ordinance dated September 3, created a 
new Council of Safety, of which Samuel Hunter and John Weitzel 
were the members for Northumberland county. It also appointed 
the following justices : Samuel Hunter, James Potter, William Ma- 
clay, Robert Moodie, John Lowdon, Benjamin Weiser, Henry Antes, 
and John Simpson. 



g6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

John Lowdon, of Silver Spring, near Mifflinburg, became member 
of the Supreme Executive Council by choice of the Delegates from 
the district of Northampton, Bedford, Westmoreland, and Nor- 
thumberland counties. 

Buffalo, White Deer, and Potter were in the third election dis- 
trict; and the first election under the constitution was held at Fought's 
mill, (near Mifflinburg,) on 3d of November. The Assembly met in 
Philadelphia on the 28th of November, when Thomas Wharton^ 
junior, was elected President of the Council and State ; John Jacobs 
Speaker of the House. 

Copy of Certificate on file in the office of the Secretary of the 
Commonwealth. 

Northumberland County, November 7, 1776. 

Agreable to an ordinance in Convention for the State or Com- 
monwealth of Pennsylvania, this is to certify that the following per- 
sons were duly elected for the respective offices annexed to their 
names for the county aforesaid : 

Council, John Lowdon; Assembly, Thomas Hewitt, Samuel 
Dale, Jacob Fulmer, Robert Fruit, David Robb, and Samuel Wallis; 
Sheriff, Jonathan Lodge and James Murray ; Coroner, James Mc- 
Mahan, John Murray ; Commissioners, William Gray, Philip Cole, 
Joseph Wallis; Assessors, David Mead, Andrew Moore, James 
Thompson, James McClure, William Watson, and William Shaw. 
(Signed) John Brady, 

James McClenachan, 
John Gray, 
Thomas Robinson, 
Judges of the Different Districts, 

Incident at Derr's Trading-House. 

It is singular, after a careful search of contemporary documents, 
I can find no allusion to the treaty, said to have been held at Fort 
Augusta, at the time this incident occurred. It appears by contem- 
porary evidence, that the Indians cut down their corn, and moved 
off their families and effects, on the ist of July. Two Seneca In- 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. g7 

dians came to the Great Island, (just below Lock Haven,) the day 
before, and the whole party moved off suddenly, to join the Six 
Nations in the war. That is the last we know of them as residents 
of the West Branch valley, and our troubles with them then began. 

In a letter, dated Paxton, August 27, 1776, John Harris says: 
"The Indians, to the northward, southward, and westward, are for 
war against us, as I am informed by a letter from Northumberland 
county, by their post, two days ago. The Susquehanna Indians 
are only for peace with us. About twenty Indians, (enemies,) men, 
women, and children, have been many days past at Sunbury, and 
make said report." In all probability this was the party that stopped 
at Derr's trading-house, and the date of the incident, therefore, 
August, 1776. 

Christian Van Gundy (father of Captain Jacob Gundy, who is 
my authority,) often related the incident. He said, his father. 
Christian Van Gundy, senior, lived between John Strohecker's and 
the late Jacob Spidler's, and kept the ferry there. He thought he 
was about thirteen years old at the time ; but it appears, by his tomb- 
stone, that he was born about the ist of March, 1766, and if thir- 
teen, it would throw the date beyond that of the death of Captain 
John Brady, (nth April, 1779.) He could, therefore, have been 
only ten years of age. To resume his story : he said he saw the 
Indians come up the river, until they arrived opposite where they 
lived. They stopped, carried some things ashore, and left the 
women there, then crossed over to Derr's trading-house. He asked 
his father for permission to go up to see the Indians. He said he 
saw Derr knock in the head of a whisky barrel, and give the In- 
dians tin-cups to drink with. They drank and danced, and showed 
how they scalped by gestures. Most of them got beastly drunk ; 
but one would not drink any. He then saw Brady approach, and 
kick over the barrel, which put an end to the frolic. He said they 
would seize each other by the hair, and go through the form of 
scalping, tearing off the scalp with the teeth. (Derr's house stood 
by the cherry tree in the present garden, and the barrel was just in 
front. So John Brown, senior, said, who owned the mill property 
many years.) 

R. B. McCabe, Esquire, of Blairsville, Indiana county, (whither 
William P. Brady removed,) published, some forty years ago, in the 
7 



()8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

Blairsville Record, some sketches of the hfe of Captain Samuel 
Brady, written upon the dictation of one of the Brady family, (so 
the late Jasper E. Brady informed me,) in which this incident is 
alluded to. He says Captain John Brady lived on the West Branch, 
opposite the site of Lewisburg, on the place owned by Honorable 
George Kremer's heirs. Derr had a small mill on the run that 
empties into the river below the town, where he supplied the Indians 
with powder, lead, rum, &c. Brady discovered that the Indians 
were likely to be tampered with by the British, and proposed making 
a treaty with the Seneca and Muncy tribes, who were up the West 
Branch, and were at variance with the Delawares, who were on the 
North Branch. Captain Brady and two others were selected by the 
people at Fort Augusta to go after the Senecas and Muncys. The 
Indians met them in a very friendly manner, and promised to attend 
at Fort Augusta on the day appointed. 

They came down about one hundred strong, and dressed in war 
costume. The people at the Fort were too poor to give them any- 
thing of value, and they did not succeed in making a treaty. They 
left the fort, however, in a good humor, and taking their canoes, 
proceeded homeward. 

Late in the day, Brady thought of Derr's trading-house, and 
mounting a small mare he had, crossed the North Branch, rode 
home with all speed. He saw the canoes of the Indians on the 
bank of the river, near Derr's, and, when near enough, saw the 
squaws working the canoes over to his side of the river, and when 
they landed they made for the thickets of sumac which grew on his 
land. They were conveying the rifles, tomahawks, and knives into 
the thickets, and hiding them. Brady jumped into a canoe and 
crossed to Derr's trading-house, where he found the Indians drunk, 
and a barrel of rum standing on end before Derr's door, with the 
head out. He instantly overset it and spilled the rum, saying to 
Derr, " My God, Ludwig, what have you done?" Derr replied, 
' ' Dey dells me you gif um no dreet down on de fort, so I dinks as 
I give um one here, als he go home in bease." One of the Indians 
told Brady he would one day rue the spilling of that barrel ; and 
Brady, being well acquainted with the Indian character, was con- 
stantly on his guard for several years. 

On the 4th of July, there was a convention of the associators, at 



1776.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 99 



Lancaster, to elect two brigadiers general. Colonel Hunter's bat- 
talion was represented by Captain Charles Gillespie, Lieutenant 
George Calhoun, privates Frederick Stone and Laughlin McCart- 
ney. Colonel Plunket's, by Major John Brady, Lieutenant Mor- 
decai McKinney, privates Paul Geddes and Andrew Culbertson. 
Colonel Weiser's, by the colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel 
Maclay, privates Seth Matlock and Jonas Yocum. Colonel Potter's, 
by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Moodie, Captain William Gray, pri- 
vates James McClenachan and Benjamin Starret. Daniel Roberdeau 
and James Ewing were elected, Colonel Potter receiving a very 
respectable vote. 

July 29, Walter Clark and John Kelly, in attendance upon the 
convention at Philadelphia, petition the Council of Safety that they 
had just grounds to believe that the county would be disturbed by 
the Indians, and stated that there was not sufficient ammunition in 
the county for the four battalions already raised. 

The original of the following minutes were given to the late 
Joseph G. Wallace, of Lewisburg, by his grandfather. Captain Wil- 
liam Gray, of Buffalo Valley, and loaned by him to Sherman Day, 
who never returned them. I am indebted to John Jordan, junior, 
Esquire, of Philadelphia, for a printed copy of them, published by 
the Historical Society among their proceedings in 1846 : 

MmUs of the Committee of Safety of Northumberland county, Penn- 
sylvania, 

From February d,th, 1776, to April T^th, 1777. 

[From the original MS. lately presented to theHistorical Society of Pennsylvania.] 

On the ^th of February, 1776, 
The following gentlemen, being previously nominated by the 
respective townships to serve in this committee, for the county of 
Northumberland, for the space of six months, met at the house of 
Richard Malone, viz. : 

Augusta township. Mahoning township. 

John Weitzel, Esquire, William Cook, Esquire, 

Alexander Hunter, Esquire, Benjamin Allison, Esquire, 

Thomond Ball. Mr. Thomas Hewet. 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1776. 



Tiirbut township. 
Captain John Hambright, 
William McKnight, 

William Shaw. 

Bald Eagle township. 
Mr. William Dunn, 
Thomas Hughes, y 

Alexander Hamilton. 

Wioming township. 
Mr. James Maclure, 
Mr. Thomas Clayton, 
Mr. Peter Melick, 



Muncey township. 
Robert Robb, Esquire, 
William Watson, 
John Buckalow. 

Buff aloe township. 
Mr. Walter Clark, removed to 

White Deer, 
William Irwin, ' 

Joseph Green. 

Penn's township. 



Moughonoy township. 



Potter township. 
John Livingston, 
Maurice Davis, 
John Hall. 



White Deer township. 
Walter Clark, 
Matthew Brown, 
Marcus Huling. 
The committee proceeded to elect a chairman and clerk, when 
Captain John Hambright was unanimously appointed chairman 
during the continuance of this committee, and Thomond Ball 
clerk. 

A return was presented to this committee, signed by William 
Scull, Esquire, chairman of a meeting of the officers and committee- 
men of the lower division of this county, held at Northumberland, 
the 7th instant, certifying that the following gentlemen were duly 
elected field officers for the battalion of said division, viz : 
Samuel Hunter, Esquire, colonel. 
William Cook, Esquii^e, lieutenant colonel. 
Casper Weitzel, Esquire, first major. 
Mr. John Lee, second major. 



177G.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. loz 

Resolved, That we accept of the same as a true return, and that 
the gentlemen therein mentioned be recommended to tlie Honorable 
Assembly or Committee of Safety to be commissioned accordingly. 
Complaint being made that the battaUon of the upper division of 
this county have not yet met, so as to have a fair election for field 
officers. 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the officers, with three 
committeemen from each township in said division, to meet at the 
house of John Scudder, on Saturday, 24th instant, to elect their 
field officers, and return them to this committee on Monday, 26th 
instant, in order to be recommended to the Committee of Safety. 
Resolved, That the absence of several gentlemen chosen captains 
of companies in this county, (upon their several occasions,) and 
such as did appear (from the short notices they have had) not being 
provided with as regular returns of their off^cerg and companies as 
we think can authorize ou^- recommendation of said captains or their 
subalterns to the Assembly or Committee of Safety of this Province, 
to remedy this inconvenience it is recommended to the committee- 
men of each township to advertise a meeting of the several compa- 
nies on Wednesday, 21st instant, at such places as the majority of 
the committeemen shall think most convenient, where, under the 
inspection of two or more committeemen, each company shall 
establish their present, or elect other officers, as they shall think 
proper, and the captains so established or elected shall make returns 
of their subalterns and companies to this committee on Monday, 
26th instant. It is expected that no gentlemen will offer to return 
a company that does not consist of forty privates with the officers 
and non-commissioned officers, agreeable to the regulations of our 
Honorable House of Assembly. 

Resolved, That if a committeeman or committeemen be elected 
officers, one or more magistrate or magistrates present may certify 
for them; and if no magistrate be present, then two or more reputa- 
ble men certifying for the justness of the election will be accepted of. 
Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee that a petition 
be presented to the Honorable Assembly of this Province, setting 
forth the late murder of two of the sheriff's posse, near Wioming, 
for attempting to act in conformity to the laws. 

Resolved, That John Weitzel, Esquire, Alexander Hunter, Es- 



102 ■ ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

quire, and Mr. Thomond Ball, be a committee to frame said petition 
and present it to this committee at their next meeting. 

The committee then adjourned to Monday, 26th instant, at the 
house of Laughlin McCartney, in Northumberland town. 

Monday, February 26th, 1776. 
The committee met, according to adjournment, at the house of 
Laughlin McCartney, m Northumberland town, Captain John 
Hambright in the chair. 

Messrs. Weitzel, Hunter and Ball presented the form of a petition 
to tlie Honorable Assembly, relative to the Connecticut intruders, 
which was approved of and ordered to be copied fair. 

The following gentlemen appeared and produced certificates of 
their being regularly chosen captains of companies in Colonel 
Hunter's battalion, and produced lists of their subalterns, compa- 
nies, &c., viz : 

Captain, Nicholas Miller, 
First Lieutenant, Christopher Gettig, 
Second Lieutenant, Nehemiah Breese, 
First Ensign, Gustavus Ross, 
Second Ensign, William Sims. 

Captain, Hugh White, 
First Lieutenant, John Forster, 
Second Lieutenant, Andrew Gibson, 
Erisign, Samuel Young. 

Captain, James McMahon, 
First Lieutenant, John Murray, 
Second Lieutenant, William Fisher, 
Ensign, William Baily. 

Captain, Charles Gillespie, 
First Lieutenant, Robert King, 
Second Lieutenant, Samuel Fulton, 
First Ensign, William Boyd, 
Second Ensign, John Woodside. 

Captain, William Scull, 

First Lieutenant, Jonathan Lodge, 

Second Lieutenant, George Colhoun, 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 103 

First Ensign, William Sawyers, 
Second Ensign, George Grant.. 

Captain, William Clarke, 
First Lieutenant, John Teitson, 
Second Lieutenant, William McDonald, 
First Ensign, John Moll. 
Resolved, That the above six companies appear to be full and 
regularly officered, and that they, with the iield officers of that bat- 
talion, be recommended to the Committee of Safety to receive their 
respective commissions ; which was done in a letter, of which the 
following is an abstract : 

Northumberland, February 26, 1776. 
Gentlemen : At a meeting of the committee for this county, held 
this day, the following gentlemen were returned as duly elected field 
officers, captains, and subalterns of a battalion raised in this county, 
viz : the officers mentioned above. The above returns of six com- 
panies belonging to the battalion expected to be commanded by 
Samuel Hunter, Esquire, appear to be well and regularly certified 
as complete companies. There are two or three companies more 
intend to belong to said battalion, but their captains being at present 
out of the county, we have received no returns of them. We further 
have the pleasure to inform you there is another complete battalion 
formed in this county, intended to be under the command of Wil- 
liam Plunket, Esquire ; but he with his other field officers being so 
lately promoted, their companies have not had sufficient time to elect 
captains in their room, we, therefore, think we cannot at present, with 
propriety recommend them, but hope in a few days to have the 
honor of transmitting to you a proper return of said battalion. In 
the meantime take the liberty to recommend the above named gen- 
tlemen to be commissioned in the several stations annexed to their 
names. 

And are, gentlemen, with due esteem, your very humble servants. 
By order of the committee, 

John Hambright, Chairman. 
To the Committee of Safety, Philadelphia. 

Resolved, That as several companies belonging to battalions in 
this county have not yet brought in their returns, and it may be 



104 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

inconvenient to call the whole committee together to receive their 
returns, that the chairman, with four others of the committee, be 
sufificient to receive such returns, and recommend the officers to the 
Committee of Safety. 

Resolved, That this committee be adjourned to Wednesday, 13th 
of March next, then to meet at the house of Frederick Stone, in 
Northumberland town. 

Wednesday, March 13, 1776. 

The committee met at the house of Frederick Stone, in North- 
umberland town, agreeable to adjournment, Captain John Ham- 
bright in the chair, when the following gen tlemen made returns of 
their officers, captains, subalterns, &c., properly certified, viz : 

William Plunket, Esquire, Colonel, 

James Murray, Esquire, Lieutenant Colonel, 

Mr. John Brady, First Major, 

Mr. Cookson Long, Second Major. 

Captain, Henry Antis, Esquire, 
First Lieutenant, Thomas Brandon, 
Second Lieutenant, Alexander Hamilton, 
First Ensign, John Morison, 
Second Ensign, James Alexander. 

Captain, Samuel Wallis, 
First Lieutenant, John Scudder, 
Second Lieutenant, Peter Jones, 
Ensign, James Hampton. 

Captain, John Robb, 
First Lieutenant, William Watson, 
Second Lieut9nant, Robert Wilson, 
Ensign, James White. 

Captain, William McElhatton, 
First Lieutenant, Andrew Boggs, 
Second Lieutenant, Thomas Wilson, 
Ensign, John McCormick. 

Captain, William Murray, 
First Lieutenant, Richard Irwin, 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 105 

Second Lieutenant, Thomas Plunkett, 
First Ensign, Andrtw Robinson, 
Second Ensign, Benjamin Jordon. 

Captain, Simon Cool, 
First Lieutenant, Tiiomas Camplen, 
Second Lieutenant, James Brandon, 
First Ensign, William King, 
Second Ensign, James Hewes. 

Captain, David Berry, 
First Lieutenant, William Hammond, 
Second Lieutenant, Joseph Bonser, 
Ensign, Israel Pershel. 

Resolved, That the returns made of the above mentioned field 
officers and seven companies appear to be regular and well certified 
as full companies, and that [the] officers be recommended to the 
Committee of Safety ; which [was] done by letter, of which the fol- 
lowing is a copy : 

Northumberland, March 13, 1776. 

Gentlemen : Agreeable to the promise of our last of 26th ultimo, 
we now inform that at a meeting of the committee for this county, 
held this day, the following gentlemen were returned as fairly elected 
field officers, captains, and subalterns of a battalion raised in this 
county, viz : 

William Plunket, Esquire, Colonel, and the rest as above. 

The above returns of officers for a battalion, consisting of seven 
companies, appear to us to be regular and well certified to be com- 
plete companies ; we, therefore, take the liberty of recommending 
said gentlemen to the respectable Committee of Safety, appointed 
for the Province of Pennsylvania to receive commissions in the 
several stations annexed to their names. Being unwilling to trouble 
the committee, who, we apprehend, are already overburthened with 
business, we have transmitted an enumeration of grievances, under 
which we think this county labors, to Samuel Hunter, Esquire, our 
Representative, and one of your respectable body, who is well ac- 
quainted with the circumstances of 1;his county, requesting he may. 



io6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 



if necessary, lay the same before you, and should be glad of your 
opinion how to act in the different cases therein mentioned. 
We are, gentlemen, &c. 

Signed by order of the committee, 

John Hambright, Chairman. 
To the Committee of Safety, Philadelphia. 

[Copy of Letter referred to in the above.] 

Northumberland, March 13/A, 1776. 
Sir : We have this day wrote to the Committee of Safety, re- 
commending officers of another battalion, to wit : Colonel Plun- 
ket's. We had it in contemplation to write to the Committee of 
Safety concerning the recruiting parties that have lately been 
amongst us and taken away some good men, when both officers 
and men could be sent from this, if any ought to be sent out of 
the county. It is unnecessary for us to inform you of our situation, 
as you are so well acquainted with it. There have been different 
applications to us for recommendations as officers of companies to 
be raised in this county, to go into immediate service. We are 
somewhat at a loss what to do ; but would be desirous, if men are 
to be taken for the continental service out of this county, officers 
should go with them. We, not considering it proper to trouble the 
Committee of Safety with our sentiments on this occasion, have 
taken the liberty to write to you, with an intention to get your 
advice upon the matter, as we cannot prevent recruiting parties 
from coming amongst us, or stop men from going into the army 
out of this county. If more battalions should be raised, or more 
men wanted, would it not be proper, from our situation as a frontier 
county, to have two or three companies raised, officered, and disci- 
plined, and put into immediate pay; and if not wanted nearer 
home, to be always in readiness to go upon any service on which 
the continent may have occasion for them. We have sufficient 
information that Hawkins Boone has enlisted several men in this 
county, and has declared his having received his authority and 
money from the Congress for that purpose, and that he is to be a 
guard to the Congress. By this conduct he has drawn off some 
men from the different companies of military associators. We have, 
as a committee of the county, taken liberty to cite him to appear 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 107 



before some of us, and show by what authority he has undertaken so 
to do ; but he has not appeared. We think when men are enUsted 
in this county, we have a right to know for what service they are 
enUsted. It is from our zeal for the good cause now carrying on 
that we are desirous to know the reason of such procedure. This, 
if you think proper, you may communicate to the Committee of 
Safety, and are requesting your advice how to act. 
With due respect, your very humble servants. 

Signed on behalf of the committee, 

John Hambright, Chairman. 
To Samuel Hunter, Esquire, Philadelphia. 

Information being given to the committee that a certain Haw- 
kins Boone is now enlisting men in this county, without giving any 
satisfactory account for what purpose or service the said men are 
enlisted, 

Resolved, That the chairman of this committee call upon the 
said Hawkins Boone, by letter or otherwise, to appear before him 
and two or more of said committee, as he, the chairman, shall think 
expedient, on such day and at such place as he shall appoint, to 
show cause why he, the said Boone, enlists men as aforesaid. 

Resolved, That this committee be adjourned to Monday, 25th 
of March, instant, then to meet at the house of Thomond Ball, in 
Sunbury. 

Monday, March 2$th, 1776. 

The committee met pursuant to adjournment at the house of 
Thomond Ball, in Sunbury, Captain John Hambright in the chair. 

Resolved, That it appears to this committee that several recruit- 
ing officers belonging to the battaHons of different counties in this 
Province, have lately come to this infant frontier county and drained 
it of a number of useful men, to the prejudice of the same. 

Resolved, That for the future no officer or non-commissioned 
officer be allowed to recruit men in this county, except the officers 
who are or may be appointed therein. 

John Simpson, Esquire, presented a return, wherein appears the 
following list of officers, the company belonging to Colonel Hun- 
ter's battalion, viz : 



io8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

Captain, John Simpson, Esquire. 

First Lieutenant, Robert Curry. . 

Second Lieutenant, John Ewart. 

First Ensign, Thomas Gaskins. 

Second Ensign, David Mead. 

Resolved, That the same appears a full company, and that the 

gentlemen therein mentioned as officers, be recommended to the 

Committee of Safety to receive their several commissions ; which 

was done accordingly, by a letter, of which the following is a copy : 

SuNBURY, 2^th March, 1776. 
Gentlemen : Our last to you was of 13th instant, recommending 
William Plunket, Esquire, colonel, with other officers of a battalion 
commanded by said colonel. At this meeting, John Simpson, 
Esquire, presents a return in which it appears that he is captain, 
Robert Curry, first, and John Ewart, second lieutenants, Thomas 
Gaskins, first, and David Mead second ensign, which is well certi- 
fied to be a full company, belonging to Col. Hunter's battalion ; 
we, therefore, take the liberty of recommending said gentlemen to 
receive commissions agreeable to the ranks to which the people 
have appointed them. We are now, gentlemen, to inform you of 
what we think a grievance to this young and thinly inhabited 
county, viz : a constant succession of recruiting officers from dif- 
ferent counties in this Province. Our zeal for the cause of Ameri- 
can liberty has hitherto prevented our taking any steps to hinder 
the raising of men for its service, but finding the evil increasing so 
fast upon us as almost to threaten the depopulation of the county, 
we cannot help appealing to the wisdom and justice of your com- 
mittee to know whether the quota of men that may be demanded 
from this county under their own officers is not as much as can 
reasonably be expected from it. Whether, at a time when we are 
uncertain of peace with the Indians, (well knowing that our ene- 
mies are tampering with them,) and a claim is set up to the greatest 
part of this Province by a neighboring Colony who have their hos- 
tile abettors at our very breasts, as well as their emissaries amongst 
us, is it prudent to drain an infant frontier county of its strength of 
men ? and whether the safety of the interior parts of the Province 
would not be better secured by adding strength to the frontiers ? 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY, 109 

Whether our Hon. Assembly, by disposing of commissions to 
gentlemen in different counties to raise companies which are to 
form the number of battalions thought necessary for the defense of 
the Province, did not intend that the respective captains should 
raise their companies where they [were] appointed ; and not dis- 
tress our county by taking from it all the men necessary for the 
business of agriculture, as well as the defense of the same? From 
our knowledge of the state of this county, we make free to give our 
opinion of what would be most for its advantage, as well as that of 
the Province, (between which we hope there never will be a differ- 
ence,) and first are to inform you [of] the poverty of the people, 
many of whom came bare and naked here, being plundered by a 
banditti who call themselves Yankees, and those who brought some 
property with them, from the necessary delay of cultivating a wil- 
derness before they could have any produce to live upon, together 
with the necessity of still continuing the closest application to labor 
and industry for their support, renders it morally improbable that a 
well disciplined militia can be established here, as the distance 
which some men are obliged to go to muster is the loss of two days 
to them, which, not being paid for, they will not, nor indeed can 
they, so often attend as is necessary to complete them even in the 
manual exercise. We would recommend that two or more com- 
panies be raised and put in pay for the use of the Province, to be 
ready to march when and where the service may require them, and 
when not wanted for the service of the public at any particular 
place, to be stationed in this county in order to be near and defend 
our frontier, should they be attacked by our enemies of any denomi- 
nation, the good effect of which, we imagine, would be consider- 
able, as though they may be too few to repel, they may stop the 
progress of an enemy until the militia could be raised to assist them. 
Should this proposal appear eligible, please to inform us thereof, 
and we will recommend such gentlemen for officers as we think will 
be most suitable for the service and agreeable to the people. 

We are, gentlemen, with due respect, your very humble servants, 
Signed for and in behalf of the committee, 

John Hambright, Chairman. 

To the Committee of Safety, Philadelphia. 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



1776. 



August y^ 13, 1776. 
The following gentlemen being unanimously chosen by their 
respective townships to serve in the committee for the county of 
Northumberland, for the space of six months, met at school-house 
in the town of Northumberland, viz : 



J^or Augusta township. 
Mr. William McClay, 
Mr. David McKinney, 
Mr. John McClay. 

Turbit township. 
George McCandish, 
Wm. Shaw, 
Paul Geddis. 



Mahoning township. 
Laughlan McCartney, 
Thomas Robinson, 
John Boyd. 

Muncy township. 

Mordecai McKinney, 
James Giles, 
Andrew Culbertson. 



Buff aloe township. 
Martin Treaster, 
William Speedy, 
Philip Coal. 

Penn^s township. 
Simeon Woodrow, 
Adam Bolinger, 
Paul Gemberling. 



Bald Eagle township. 
Robert Fleming, 
Thomas Campling, 
John Section. 

Wyoming township. 
Samuel McClure, 
Peter Meelick, 
John Clingman. 

Moughonoy township. Potter township. 

Bastian Brossius, 
George Reitz, 
Peter Almang. 

White Deer township. 

James McClanachan, 

Robert Fruit, 

Wm. Gray. 
The committee proceeded to elect a chairman and clerk, when 
Mr. Robert Fruit was unanimously appointed chairman during the 
time of six months, and John Boyd, clerk. 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. iii 

ist. Resolved, That no complaint be received by this committee 
that arises in any township and does not respect the county at large, 
except upon an appeal from the township committee, and that such 
appeal be delivered in writing, as well as all complaints that are re- 
ceived, and that all complaints be signed by the persons aggrieved 
or complaining. 

2d. Resolved, That Andrew Culbertson, Mordecai McKinney, 
and James Giles, call upon Colonel Wm. Plunket for the dividend of 
ammunition belonging to the six companies of his battalion that lie 
above Muncy, and in case it is inconvenient for him to make the 
dividend, Laughlan McCartney, at whose house the ammunition is 
lodged, is hereby desired to do it and deliver the quotas allotted 
for the aforesaid six companies to the aforesaid Andrew Culbertson, 
Mordecai McKinney, and James Giles, who are to deliver the same 
to the respective captains, and by them kept in some convenient 
dry place, ready to be delivered out when occasion requires. 

3d. Resolved, That the committee, or any two of them, belonging 
to the other three battalions of this county, call upon Laughlan 
McCartney for their equal dividend of what ammunition is in hand, 
and deliver to the respective captains in each battalion an equal 
dividend of said ammunition according to their number of men, and 
by them kept secure in some convenient dry place, ready to be de- 
livered out when occasion requires. 

4th. Resolved, That each colonel recommend to their respective 
captains to use all possible exertions to have any arms that are out 
of repair put in as good order as soon as possible. 

As this committee is informed of a quantity powder and lead at 
Mr. John Harris's ferry, which belongs to the associators of this 
county, we do recommend Major John Lee and Captain Charles 
Gillespy as two suitable persons for to bring up the same, and we do 
appoint Laughlan McCartney and John Boyd for to agree with them 
for the bringing up of the said ammunition. 

5th. Resolved, That this committee be adjourned to Tuesday, 
the loth of September next, to meet in the town of Northumber- 
land. 



ANAALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 



Tuesday y" lo of September, 1776. 

The committee met according to adjournment, in the town of 
Northumberland, Mr. Robert Fruit in the chair. 

Complaint being made to this committee against Mr. Aaron Levy 
and John Bullion, setting forth that the aforesaid Levy and Bullion 
have a quantity of salt on hand, which they refuse to sell for cash, 
by a former resolve of the committee. 

Resolved, That the aforesaid salt that is in the hands of the afore- 
said Levy and Bullion, (as they have refused the same for sale,) 
be put into the hands of Mr. William Sayers, and by him sold at 
the rate of fifteen shillings per bushel, and not to sell unto any family 
above half a bushel for the time that the said salt is selling, and that 
the said Sayers shall keep a particular account of every bushel that 
he sells, and when sold, he shall return the money arising from said 
salt to this committee, first deducting one shilling out of the pound 
for his trouble of selling said salt, and six shillings and four pence 
for porterage. 

A complaint being made to this committee against two certain 
men, namely, William Chattim and James Parker, of not behaving 
themselves as friends to pur country in general, and had armed 
themselves with two pistols ; therefore, it was 

Resolved, That the aforesaid Chattim and Parker should be sent 
for and examined. 

Being brought before the committee and examined, they con- 
fessed themselves to be two of his His Britannic Majesty's soldiers, 
and both prisoners. Therefore, this committee thought it most 
proper to convey the two aforesaid men into the care of Lancaster 
committee, where we understand there is a number of their fellow 
prisoners, and that the aforesaid arms should be sold at public sale, 
and the money arising from the sale of said arms, should, as far as 
it would admit of, be put to discharge of such expenses as would 
arise for the trouble of said prisoners. 

And as there was a bill of expenses produced to this committee 
by John Chattim, against the two aforesaid prisoners, and he refus- 
ing to approve the same, it was Resolved, that the aforesaid bill shall 
not be accepted of by this committee unless the aforesaid John 
Chattim do prove the same. 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 113 



September 12th, 1776. 

On examination of the two different quantities of ammunition 
heretofore forwarded to the care of the committee of this county, 
and on a careful examination of the number of associators in this 
county, it appears that the quota of each associator is half a pound 
of powder and one pound of lead. 

And Whereas, the greater part of Col. Plunket's battalion are 
situated on the frontier, and the most exposed parts of this county ; 
therefore, Resolved, that the further quantity of eighty-nine pounds 
of powder and one hundred and seventy-eight pounds of lead be 
delivered into the hands of Mr. Fleming, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Kemp- 
ling, Mr. Culbertson, and Mr. Giles, and that the same be by them 
delivered among the different captains of the said battalion, with 
the strictest charge that the same be preserved for the purposes of the 
defense of this county. The same division to be made with a proper 
regard to the different number in each company. 

And it is further Resolved, that the further quantity of eighty-six 
pounds and three quarters of powder and the quantity of one hun- 
dred and seventy-three pounds and one half of lead, be delivered 
to Mr. Fruit, Mr. Gray, Mr. McClenachan, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Mc- 
Candles and Mr. Geddis, to be by them distributed among the cap- 
tains of Col. Potter's battalion, in such sort, that each private have 
one quarter of powder, and half a pound of lead, Captain McMil- 
lan's company excepted, who are to have each half a pound of pow- 
der and one pound of lead. 

And it is further Resolved, that the further quantity of fifty pounds 
of powder and one hundred pounds of lead be delivered to Mr. Coal, 
Mr. Treaster, Mr. Bolander, Mr. Brousers and Mr. Ritz, by them 
to be divided among the captains of Col. Wiser's battalion in the 
same proportions as the former fifty weight of powder was directed 
to be divided. 

It is likewise further Resolved^ that the additional quantity of fifty 
pounds of powder and one hundred weight of lead be delivered to 
John Maclay, Laughlin McCartney, and James McClure, to be by 
them divided among the captains of Col. Hunter's battalion, in 
due proportion to the number of privates in their respective com- 
panies. 

Whereas, This committee being informed by one of our members 
8 



JI4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776.. 

of convention, that there is a dividend of salt in Philadelphia, which 
is allotted for this county, by a late resolve of convention, wherefore, 
this committee thought proper to appoint two suitable persons to go 
to Philadelphia and take charge of said salt, and [to] be by them 
conveyed to this county and delivered to the care of this committee. 
Therefore, William Maclay and Mordecai McKinney were unani- 
imously appointed by this committee for the purpose above men- 
tioned. 

Resolved, That the salt belonging to this county is to be sold at 
fifteen shillings per bushel. 

A complaint being laid unto this committee by Samuel Dail 
against Col. William Plunket, the same being read, was postponed 
until our next meeting. 

A record of Mr. Robert Fruit's letter to this committee, respecting 
salt, &c. : 

Philadelphia, November 23, 1776. 

Gentlemen : I have received from the Council of Safety, in this 
city, seventy-seven bushels of salt for the use of the inhabitants of 
the county of Northumberland, which I have delivered to Marcus 
Hulings to forward up. 

It is delivered to me on the express condition of being divided 
amongst those of the inhabitants who did not get any part of the 
former quantity ; therefore, you will please to take notice to inform 
the county of this exception, when you advertise for the distribution 
of it. Mr. Hulings has advanced all the money for the salt, together 
with all costs, &c. 

I am, gentlemen, your very humble servant, 

Robert Fruit. 

To the Committee of Northumberland County. 

The Committee of the County of Northumberland, 

To Marcus Hulings, Dr. 

For cash paid the Council of Safety, in Philadelphia, 

for seventy seven-bushels of salt, at 15^ per bushel, ;!^ 57 15 
For cash paid for casks, to pack said salt . . 3 

Porterage and cooperage, ..... 18 



1776. j ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. , 115 

Cash paid Hugh Cook for carriage of seventy-seven 

bushels of salt, from Philadelphia to Middletown, ;!^i3 9 6 

Storage at Middletown, ..... 86 

Carriage from Middletown to Northumberland, . 1 1 1 1 



i: 87 2 o 

December 14, 1776. 
The committee met, by express from Captain John Brady, upon 
sundry charges, produced by said Brady, against a certain Robert 
Robb. Sundry evidences were referred to, to prove the several 
charges against said Robb, which are as follows : 

The evidence of Thomas Newman against Robert Robb. 

This deponent, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that said 
Robb had a paper, at a certain house, where they were erecting a 
chimney, which paper was supposed to be from Lord Howe, con- 
cerning conditions of peace, of which said Robb said this is the very 
thing I would be at ; says further, Mr. Frankling was a rogue, he 
well knew, and that he has led the Government into two or three 
scrapes already known to him. Also, it was thought Frankling had 
a pension from home; likewise that it was thought the convention was 
bribed. Also, said Robb says that Lord Howe used the members of 
Congress politely that were sent to treat with him, but that they used 
him ill. 

And that, as this deponent was one of the township committee, 
he, the said Robb, thought it was proper he should call a few of the 
township together, to consult concerning these things. And further 
saith not. 

his 

Thomas x Newman. 

mark. 

Joseph Newman'' s evidence against said Robb. 

That Robert Robb read, at the aforesaid place, a paper, [which] 
(as the deponent supposeth,) was a declaration of peace from Lord 
Howe, and asked this deponent's father if he would call a few of 
the neighbors to consult concerning it, and that his father refused 
to do it. And concerning the members of Congress, Mr. Robb 



ii6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

said Lord Howe used them politely, and they used him ill. And 
as for Mr. Frankling, there were very hard thoughts of him, and 
that it was thought he had a pension from home ; also that it was 
thought there was bribery in the convention. 
And further saith not. 

Joseph Newman. 

The substance of John Morris' evidence against Robert Robb. 

This deponent saith he heard Robert Robb read a paper concern- 
ing terms of peace from Lord Howe. Said Robb was asked why 
this paper was not made public sooner. Robb said, because it was 
kept back by the Congress and committees below. Said Robb said, 
also, it is well known what Writtenhouse and Frankling was. Mr, 
Newman asked said Robb what was the reason there was such men 
in Congress. Robb said it was thought there was bribery in the 
convention ; also said, it was a minority that held this new form of 
government, and that the majority would not be ruled by the 
minority. 

And further saith not. 

John Morris. 

The substance of James Giles' evidence. 

This deponent saith, that he saw Mr. Robb pull out a paper at 
the aforesaid building, read it, which he said was printed in New 
York near three months ago. Mr. Newman asked said Robb how 
it came to be kept back. This deponent saith, he understood Mr. 
Robb said it was our rulers kept it back, and that the substance of 
the above paper was terms of peace from Lord Howe. 

And further saith not. 

James Giles. 

The evidence of George Silverthorn for Robert Robb, viz : 

This deponent, being at Mr. Robb's house, and from there went 
together to a chimney raising in the neighborhood. After a while 
said Robb pulled out a handbill which gave an account of General 
Washington's army being in need of a reinforcement, and Mr. Robb 
said in public, that it was necessary for every one to turn out that 
would go. However, after a while, Mr. Robb pulled out another 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. iry 



paper, which he said was a declaration of peace, from Lord Howe, 
and read it in public. After reading the said paper, Mr. Robb said 
he came on purpose to see Mr. Newman, and whether or not he 
thought proper to call some of the neighbors together, in order to 
see whether or not the said declaration was of any effect or not, as 
he was one of the town committee, or how they would take it, as he 
would not depend upon his own judgment on such an occasion, as 
being but one person. And this deponent saith, that after the 
papers came out which gave an account of what passed between 
General Howe and them at Staten Island, this deponent was telling 
said Robb that he had heard them read at Mr. McKinney's, and 
that Mr. Robb said that he thought it would not be proper to lay 
down their arms till peace would be concluded on better terms than 
these for the benefit of the country. 
And further saith not. 

George Silverthorn. 

Lieutenant John Scudder, being duly sworn, saith that Robert 
Robb said that the King's troops are able to learn us to beat them- 
selves, as Peter the Great said of Charles, King of Sweden, and 
that the said Robb never did anything against the cause of 
America, but always encouraged the sajne, to the best of his know- 
ledge ; and further saith, that Mr. Newman charged Robert Robb 
with discouraging people going into the service, and that George 
Silverthorn and his family were the people. 

And further saith not. 

John Scudder, 

December i 'jth., 1776, 

Northumberland County. — The committee of this county, 
taking the proofs and allegations for and against Robert Robb 
under their serious consideration, do judge that the said Robb hath 
behaved in such manner as gives just grounds for this committee to 
suspect him of being not only unfriendly, but inimical, to our com- 
mon cause ; therefore, 

Resolved, TlHat said Robert Robb shall either take his gun and 
march immediately with the militia of this county into actual ser- 
vice, for the defense of the United States, in order to wipe off the 
present evil suspicions, or otherwise to be committed to the care of 



ii8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

Lieut. Col. James Murray, of the second battalion, to be by him 
sent to some proper place of confinement, until released by further 
authority. Signed by order of the committee. 

Paul Geddis, Chairman. 

December id>th, 1776. 
The above Robert Robb desires to appeal to the Council of Safety 
of this State : 

Resolved, That said Robb may appeal to said council, under the 
care of the said Col. Murray. 

Paul Geddis, Chairman. 

Muster Roll of Captain Casper WeitzeVs Company, in the first Bat- 
talion of Pennsylvania Regiment of Rifiemefi commanded by Col- 
onel Samuel Miles. Camp near Kings bridge, September i, I'l'id. 

Captain — Casper Weitzel, Esquire, of Sunbury appointed March 
9, 1776. 

First Lieutenant — WilHam Gray, appointed March 15; captured 
August 27 ; exchanged December 8, 1776, for Lieutenant Thompson. 

Second Lieutenant — John Robb, appointed March 16, 1776, 
promoted captain i8th April, 1777. 

Third Lieutenant — George Grant, appointed March 19, 1776, 
captain in the 9th P. C. L. Died loth October, 1779. 

Sergeant Major — John Gordon. 

Sergeants — Jacob Snider, Thomas Price, William Orr, Thomas 
Shanks. 

Drummer — John Everard. September i, sick at New York. 

Privates — ^\llison, William ; Arthur, John ; Aumiller, John \ 
Barr, William ; ^Brady, Peter ; Brinson, Stout ; Burke, John ; Car- 
son, Samuel; Carson, William, junior; Carson, William, senior ; 
^Carter, Andrew ; Carter, Charles ; ^Caruthers, Robert ; Chisnell, 
James; Clark, William; Clayton, James ; Connell, Jeffry; Cribs, 
John; Curry, David; Davis, Peter; Doran, Edward; Durell, David; 
Durell, Stephen ; Elder, James ; Ewig, Christian ; ^Gass, Henry ; 
Gerhart, Henry ; Glover, James ; Hardy, John ; Harper, William ; 
Hissom, Thomas; ^Huggins, Dennis; Hunt, Elijah; Irvine, James; 
^Kerstetter, Martin ; Little, Thomas ; McCleane, Charles ; ^McCor- 

^ Missing after the battle of Long Island, August 27. 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. iig 

mick, William ; McDonald, John ; Mclnnis, Patrick ; McManus, 
Patrick; McMath, William; ^McVey, Patrick; Madden, Joseph; 
Miller, Henry ; ^Morehead, Robert : Newman, Richard ; Noland, 
Michael; Ralston, Andrew; Randolph, James; ^Rice, John; Sands, 
John ; Shaffer, John ; ^Spiess, Jacob ; Staples, Samuel ; Turner, 
David; ^Watt, James; Wilson, Robert; Winters, Christian; Wolcot, 
Silas. 

Lieutenant William Gray, afterwards Captain Gray, died at Sun- 
bury, July 1 8, 1804, aged fifty-four. 

Sergeant Price ended his days in a small log house on Water 
street, in Selinsgrove. It seems he was carried to Halifax, in Nova 
Scotia. Made his escape traveling through the vast forests interven- 
ing between that country and the nearest American settlements. 
See History of West Branch, page 109. In a letter to Honorable 
Samuel Maclay, member of Congress at Philadelphia, dated Penn's 
township, December 4, 1798, written in a very good hand, he com- 
plains that he had been three times elected colonel, beating Charles 
Drum twice and Frederick Evans once, and yet had not been com- 
missioned, because, as he says, it was alleged that he was too poor 
for such a post. He says, ''I settled in these parts before the war, 
and have resided here ever since, except while I was out in the 
army. I enlisted in Captain Weitzel's company, and was wounded 
and taken prisoner at the battle of Long Island. I underwent many 
hardships, but at last found means to escape, returned to the army, 
and served my time out ; was honorably discharged, and never re- 
ceived my pay. Soon after my return home I was elected adjutant, 
and continued in that post many years. Afterwards was elected 
major." 

Associators. 

On the 31st of August the field officers for the battalion in Buffalo 
and Penn's townships were chosen, and the 8th of October commis- 
sions were issued to them as fourth battalion of Northumberland 
county associators and to the company officers : 
Colonel — Cole, Philip. 
J Lieutenant Colonel — Sutherland, Thomas. 

First Major — Foster, Thomas. 



I20 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

Second Major — Yost, Casper. 
Standard Bearer — Miller, Dewalt. 
Adjutant — McCoy, James. 

Company No. i. 

Captain — Clarke, John. 
First Lieutenant — Pontius, Henry. 
Second Lieutenant — Moore, James. 
Ensign — Watson, Patrick. 

Four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, and 
forty-six privates, certified by me, this 26th day of September, 1776. 
John Clarke, captain. 

Second Company. 
Captain — Weaver, Michael. 

Third Company. 
Captain — Links, Jacob. 

Fourth Co7npany. 

Captain — Weirick, William. 
First Lieutenant — Sherred, Jacob. 
Second Lieutenant — Gill, William. 
Ensign — Moon, Nicholas. 

Four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, forty 
privates. The whole of the above as associators testified by me, this 
26th day of September, 1776. William Weirick, Captain. 

Fifth Company. 

Captain — Wolff, George. 
First Lieutenant — Conrad, George. 
Second Lieutenant — Wildgoose, Michael. 
Ensign — Hessler, John. 

Four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, forty- 
one privates. 



1776.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 121 

Sixth Company. 

Captain — Overmeier, George. 
First Lieutenant — McCelvey, James. 
Second Lieutenant — Weirick, Peter. 
Ensign — Snyder, Michael. 

Four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, forty 
privates. The whole of the above as associators testified by me, this 
26th day of September, 1776. Captain George Overmeier. 

This battalion, or rather drafts from it, went into service in Decem- 
ber, when Colonel Cole was with part of it at Reading. Colonel 
Brodhead writes that he made use of a company from Buffalo Valley 
to apprehend some of the disaffected and to compel some of the 
militia of Berks to march. 

It is probable that when the danger to Philadelphia became im- 
minent, officers and men volunteered to fill up Captain Clarke's 
company, as we find their names on the following roll. I am in- 
debted to John C. Watson, of West Buffalo township, a grandson 
of Captain Clarke, for an old account book which contained the 
names. The company left the Valley on the 5th of December, and 
served three months and eighteen days. 

It appears from some memorandums in this book, that the com- 
pany did not leave Reading until the 3d of January, 1777, and 
consequently did not participate at Trenton and Princeton, b,ut was 
in the subsequent skirmishes. It was attached to Colonel Potter's 
second battalion, Lieutenant Colonel James Murray, Majors John 
Kelly and Thomas Robinson. Joseph Green assigned as surgeon's 
mate to Doctor Benjamin Allison. Four companies, Clarke's, Lee's, 
Taggart's, Cookson Long's, had casualties during the campaign : 

Roll of Captain John Clarke' s Co?npany. 
Allen, Robert ; Augustine, Hieronimus ; Barnett, Joseph ; Beatty, 
John ; Bower, George ; Cery, Thomas ; Clark, George ; Cogh, 
Daniel; Colpetzer, Adam; Commer, Daniel; Conner, Jacob; Con- 
rad, George ; Conrad, Henry ; Cousins, William ; Esterly, Jacob ; 
Etzweiler, George ; Ewig, Philip; Fought, Michael; Foster, Thomas; 
Fry, John; Gill, WiUiam; Gilman, Henry; Green, Joseph; Green- 
lee, William ; Groninger, Joseph ; Grove, Wendell ; Hain, John ; 



122 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

Harpster, Jacob; Heny, Stophel; Hessler, William; Hessler, John; 
Hessler, Michael ; Kellahan, Patrick ; Keeny, Jacob ; Kishler, 
Francis ; Kneedler, Frederick ; Kneedler, Conrad ; Lamb, Michael ; 
Links, Jacob; Long, Jacob; Long, WiUiam ; Lowdon, Richard; 
McCashon, John; McCelvey, James; McClung, Matthew; Mc- 
Donneld, Randal ; Mackhn, Valentine ; Miller, Benjamin ; Moor, 
William; Morrow, Andrew; Nees, Henry; Nees, Peter; Overmeier, 
George; Pontius, Nicholas; Pontius, George; Rinehart, Frederick; 
Rinehart, George ; Rith or Ritle, Yost ; Rote, Michael ; Row, Lud- 
wig ; Sierer, George ; Schneider, Michael ; Schock, John ; Schock, 
Michael; Schock, George; Scott, Robert; Smith, Michael; Speddy, 
William; Speese, Jacob ;Steverlspn, James; Storm, David; Thomp- 
son, Robert; Ulrich, George; Weaver, John; Weaver, David; 
Wenderbach, Henry; Wilson, Robert; Wolfe, George. 

Captain Clarke lived on the first farm above Mifflinburg, south 
of the turnpike; died February 22, 1809, aged seventy-three; 
buried in the Lewis graveyard. Lieutenant Thomas Foster, grand- 
father of Mrs. Mark Halfpenny, died June 4, 1804; buried in 
Lewis graveyard. Augustine was a weaver ; lived near Selinsg rove 
as late as 1800. George Bower lived in Union township. Joseph 
Barnett became the patriarch of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania. 
See a full notice of him in Day's Historical Collections. Honorable 
I. G. Gordon, of Brookville, writes me, 1871, that some of his 
grandchildren live near that place. John Beatty lived near New 
Berlin. George Clark was a prominent surveyor in the Valley 
until 1800, and then removed West. He lived in a house near 
JuSge Hummel's, now torn down. He was an exceedingly tall man, 
and took delight in making his axe marks as surveyor beyond the 
reach of other men. He once made a narrow escape from the 
Indians by leaping Little Buffalo creek, from the high bank, near 
late Jacob Moyer's. It was attributed to Brady, but Brady's leap 
was in the western part of the State, in Armstrong county. Jacob 
Conner lived in Buffalo. Adam Colpetzer, in West Buffalo ; married 
a daughter of George Rote, of Mifflinburg. George Etzweiler was 
killed by the Indians in 1780, at Heberling's mill, then French 
Jacob Grochong's. Michael Fought, in Union, on Seebold's farm, 
near Chappel Hollow, east of it. William Gill, in Penn's. Wendell 
Grove, in Derrstown. Henry Gilman, in White Deer. Joseph 



1776.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 123 



Groninger, in Kelly, on Clingan's place. Joseph Green near 
Philip Pontius' ; he was grandfather of Joseph Green, of Lewis- 
burg. Jacob Harpster, in Beaver township. John Hain, in Penn's. 
The Hesslers, near Crotzerville. The church there bears their name. 
Christopher Heny, on General James Irvine's, now, or lately, 
Kleckner's, west of Mifflinburg. Patrick Kellahan, north-west of 
Mifflinburg. Jacob Keeny, on John Aurand's place, Turtle creek. 
Richard Lowdra was a brother of Captain John, and lived with 
Tim. Andrew Morrow was a tenant on Samuel Maclay's place. 
Benjamin Miller, afterwards owned James Biehl's place. Matthew 
McClung, late George Gundy's heirs, near Turtle creek. Randal 
McDonneld, on S. Maclay's, just north of the Great Western, now 
Mrs. Shoemaker's. Peter Nees died of wounds received February 
j^ j^^^_ George Overmeier lived near Seebold's, in Limestone. 
Nicholas Pontius was the father of the late J. F. Pontius. George 
was his brother, sons of John, who owned the Captain Bucher tract, 
where his descendants still reside, or a few of them, as the name is 
legion now. David Storm, where B. Lahr lives, on Esquire Came- 
ron's farm. Robert Scott, on Barber's place. White Springs. Jacob 
Speese lived, within our memory, in White Deer. William Speddy, 
see 1772. The Schock's, about Mifflinburg. Michael Smith, in 
East Buffalo, above Henry Mertz's. George Wolfe was the grand- 
father of Jonathan, of Lewisburg. 

Colonel William Cooke's regiment was directed to be raised in the 
counties of Northampton and Northumberland. Among the last 
acts of the convention, on the 28th of September, was the election of 
field officers of this regiment. Four companies, Miller's, Boone's, 
Brady's, and Harris', were from Northumberland county. These 
companies were nearly full on the nth of December, and left Sun- 
bury about a week thereafter, as Marcus Huling claimed for loss of 
a boat in taking them down the river at that time. 

The regiment went immediately into active service. Being com- 
posed mainly of good riflemen, large drafts were made upon it for 
picket and skirmish duty. A portion, under Boone, was sent into 
the. northern army, and assisted in the capture of Burgoyne. At 
Brandywine the regiment lost heavily in officers and men, and at 
Germantown ; so that, after wintering at Valley Forge, the field offi- 
cers were mustered out, the supernumerary line officers discharged, 



124 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1776. 

and what remained of officers and companies distributed into the 
third and sixth regiments. 

Roster of Colonel William Cooke's Twelfth Pennsylvania Regiment 
of the Continental Line. 

Colonel — Cooke, William, of Northumberland, commissioned Oc- 
tober 2, 1776. 

Lieutenant Colonel — Gray, Neigal, of Northampton county. He 
moved to Buffalo Valley after the war. 

Major — Crawford, James, commissioned October 8, 1776. After- 
wards justice of the peace in Lycoming county, where he died. 

Adjutant — Hanson, Thomas. 

Paymasters — Levers, Robert; Dungan, Thomas; appointed April 
29, 1777. 

Quartermaster — Vaughan, George. 

Surgeon — Ledlie, Doctor Andrew, of Easton. 

Surgeon's Mate — Woodruff, Aaron. 

Captains — Withington, Peter, commissioned October i, 1776; 
took sick, in Philadelphia, in December, 17763 sent home, to 
Reading, where he died May 11, 1777; his widow, Eve, survived 
him over fifty years, and died in Mifflinburg ; Miller, Nicholas, 
appointed October 4, 1776, from Northumberland county ; died, in 
1 79-, in Northampton county ; Boone, Hawkins, appointed October 
4, 1776; killed, at Fort Freeland, July 28, 1779; Brady, John, 
appointed October 14, 1776; killed, by the Indians, April 11, 
1779; Harris, John, appointed October 14, 1776; McKinley, 
Reverend Henry, of Carhsle, appointed October 16, 1776; Pat- 
terson, Alexander, of Northampton county; Work, William, ap- 
pointed October 16, 1776. 

Lieutenants — Brandon, Thomas, appointed October 4, 1776; 
Lincoln, Hananiah, appointed October 4, 1776 ; he was a sergeant 
in Captain George Nagel's company, Colonel William Thompson's 
regiment, 1 775-1 776; resigned, after battle of Brandywine, and 
went to Daniel Boone's settlement, in Kentucky ; he followed Boone 
to Missouri, where he died ; Gettig, Christopher, appointed October 
14, 1776, from Sunbury; wounded at Piscataway, New Jersey, May 
II, 1777 ; taken prisoner, and had his leg amputated; justice of the 
peace many years afterward at Sunbury ; his descendants reside near 



1776,] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 125 

Bellefonte; Reily, John, appointed October 16, 1776; promoted 
Captain, May 20, 1777 ; mustered out of service November 3, 1783 ; 
Chambers, Stephen, Esquire, appointed October 16, 1776; promoted 
captain; one of tlie council of censors, in 1783; Delegate to the 
Federal Convention, December 12, 1787; wounded in a duel with 
Doctor Jacob Rieger, on Monday, nth May, 1789; died on Satur- 
day, i6th, at his house, in La,ncaster ; McElhatton, William, 
appointed October 16, 1776 ; wounded, atBonhamtown, New Jersey, 
in right shoulder ; disabled, and transferred to the invalid corps July 
I, 1779; died April 26, 1807; Henderson, John, appointed Oc- 
tober 16, 1776; Sayre, William, appointed October 16, 1776. 

Second Lieutenants — King, Robert, October 4, 1776; promoted 
lieutenant, third Pennsylvania, May 20, 1777; left out of service 
June 23, 1779; Williamson, James, October 4, 1776; McCabe, 
Edward, October 16, 1776; Hays, John, October 16, 1776; 
Quinn, Samuel, October 16, 1776 ; Boyd, John, of Northumberland, 
promoted lieutenant in third Pennsylvania, June 18, 1779; died 
February 13, 1832; Bard, William, October i, 1776; Carothers, 
John, October 16, 1776; killed, at Germantown, October 4, 1777; 
Falconer, Robert. 

Ensigns — Lodge, Benjamin, junior, October 16, 1776; promoted 
lieutenant sixth Pennsylvania, October 11, 1777: Hamilton, 
Thomas, October 16, 1776; Blackall, William Ball, October 16, 
1776; promoted lieutenant third Pennsylvania, nth September, 
1778; mustered out November 3, 1783; Boyd, William, appointed 
October 16, 1776; killed at Brandywine, September 11, 1777; 
Stone, John, October 16, 1776; resigned January 8, 1777; died 
March, 1792; Herbert, Stewart, October 16, 1776; promoted 
lieutenant sixth Pennsylvania, January 9, 1778; Engle, Andrew, 
October 16, 1776; promoted lieutenant of third Pennsylvania, 
December 20, 1778; retired January 1, 1781; Strieker, Henry, 
October 16, 17763 Seeley, John, February 3, 1777; Armstrong, 
John, formerly sergeant; served until the end of the war, and 
promoted lieutenant in Captain James Moore's corps. 

Philadelphia, December, 1776. 
I am commanded by the House to request your attendance in this 
city, in order to take your seat in Council, that we may immediately 



126 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

carry all the powers of government into execution. As this must 
appear absolutely necessary to every good man, we can have no 
doubt, from your general character, but you are so well disposed to 
the public, and so desirous of order and good government, that you 
will not neglect to take your seat in that important body. Com- 
pliance will much oblige the State in general, and in particular thy 

real, though unknown, friend. 

John Jacobs, Speaker. 

John Lowdon, Esquire, Northumberland county. 

2 4th December, Colonel Hunter writes that a company out of his 
battalion had volunteered ; chosen Major John Lee, captain ; Hugh 
White, first lieutenant ; Thomas Gaskins, second lieutenant, and 
marched that day ; and he had impressed guns and blankets for them, 
and had them appraised. 



1>1>1>1 



% 



Officials — Minutes of the Committee of Safety, Continued — Major 
Kelly at Princeton — Roll of Captain B. Weiser's Company — 
Matthew Brown — Paoli — General Potter's Letters. 

HOMAS WHARTON, President of the State. John 
Lowdon member of Council until October, when he 
was succeeded by Captain John Hambright, of Turbut 
township. Members of Assembly elected in October : 
Samuel Dale, Robert Fruit, James Murray, William Irwin, Simon 
Himrod, and Robert Fleming. 

On the 9th of June the following justices were appointed under 
the new constitution : Samuel Hunter, Thomas Hewitt, Robert 
Crawford, John Weitzel, Robert Martin, Michael Troy, Samuel 
Allen, John Aurand, William Shaw, and John Livingston. William 
Maclay, Prothonotary until September 1 1 , when he was succeeded by 
David Harris ; Jonathan Lodge, Sheriff, elected in October ; John 



1777. J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. i2j 

Simpson, the first Register and Recorder of the county, appointed 
March 14. 

March 21, Samuel Hunter appointed lieutenant, and Walter Clark, 
William Murray, George Wolfe, and William Wilson, sub-lieuten- 
ants of Northumberland county. 

Constable of Buffalo : Martin Trester ; White Deer, Henry Derr. 

Elias Younkman's name appears on the grand jury. He resided 
in Turbut before moving into Buffalo, in 1783. 

Minutes of the Committee of Safety— Continued. 

January ist, 1777. 
The complaint of Petei' Smith against Robert Robb. 
To THE Honorable Committee of Northumberland County : 

That on the 20th of last month, at the house of Captain John 
Brady, said Robb did violently beat and very much abuse said Smith, 
and further produceth James Brady and Jean Kennan as evidence 
of said charge, and also Patrick Murdock as evidence afterwards to 
the wounds alleged to be received by said Smith from said Robb. 

his 

Peter X Smith. 

mark. 

The above named Peter Smith maketh oath that he received the 
above-mentioned, abuse, by the above-named Robert Robb, at the 
time and place above-mentioned, and that he, this deponent, has 
not been able, ever since receiving the above-mentioned abuse, to 
follow his usual vocation, as formerly. 

his 

Peter X Smith. 

mark. 

James Brady's Evidence between Peter Smith, complainant, and 
Robert Robb, defendant. 

This deponent saith, that on Friday, the 20th day of December 
last, Robert Robb did, at the house of this deponent's father, and 
in his presence, violently beat and abuse the above-said Smith, and 
continued so to do until he, this deponent, rescued him out of 
his hands. This deponent further saith, that Robert Robb said he 



128 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

believed the committee got very li<-tle satisfaction of him, and that 
they were a set of rascals, some of them were robbers, some were 
horse -thieves, and some of them were murderers. 
And further saith not. 

James Brady. 

Jean Cannon's Evidence. 

This deponent saith, that she saw Peter Smith immediately after 
difference with Robert Robb, and that said Smith seemed to her 
to have been very much abused- as she understood, by said Robert 
Robb. This deponent further saith, that said Robb said the com- 
mittee was a set of rascals, some of them were horse-thieves, some 
robbers, and some of them were murderers. 

And further saith not. 

her 

Jean X Cannon. 

mark. 

January ^th, 1777. 
Resolved, That this committee be adjourned until the 1 4th day of 
this instant, to meet at the house of George McCandlish. 

January 14. 

The committee met, by adjournment, at the house of Mr. George 
McCandlish, and proceeded to hear the evidence of James Patton, 
in behalf of Robert Robb. 

James Patton, being duly sworn, deposeth and said, that he, this 
deponent, with Peter Smith and some others, were drinking together 
at the house of Captain John Brady, when said Smith asked Mr. 
Robb what news. Mr. Robb answered that he desired none of his 
discourse, and asked James Brady if there was any fire in the new 
house. Brady said there was. Mr. Robb then got up and asked 
this deponent if he would go into the said house and drink share of 
half a pint. This deponent said he would. After sitting down, 
the aforesaid Smith came in. Says Mr. Robb, you have follovv^ed 
me here again, Peter. Mr. Robb further said, if you choose to sit 
here, I will go into the other house, and if you follow me, I will 
flog you, or turn you out. Mr. Robb then got up, and asked this 
deponent to go with him to the other house. This deponent further 



1777.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. isg 

saith, that Mr. Robb said that once in his day he never thought to 
be tried by such men as some of the committee. Some of them 
had been tried for murder and some for horse stealing. 

And further saitli not. 

James Patton. 

Whereas, A certain Robert Robb was brouglit before the com- 
mittee of this county, on account of sundry charges proven against 
him, and a resolve of this committee entered tliereon, bearing date 
December 17th, 1776, by virtue whereof he was committed to the 
custody of Colonel James Murray, to be by him sent to some proper 
place of confinement until released by a superior authority : 

And whereas. The saiei Colonel Murray, out of lenity to said 
Robb's family, saw fit to appoint the mansion-house of the said 
Robb as a prison for him, on a promise of his good behavior for 
the future, but as said Robb hath since (as appears by sufficient tes- 
timony given before this committee) very ungratefully abused the 
lenity shown him by said Colonel Murray, by barbarously beating 
and much abusing a certain Peter Smith, of this county, so as to 
render him unable, for a considerable time, to support himself and 
his small family by his industry, as usual, as appears by the testi- 
mony of said Smith, and other evidences produced before this com- 
mittee : 

And whereas. He did, at the same time, not only despise all 
authority of this committee, but also charge them with horse steal- 
ing, robbery, and murder, as appears by the testimony of said 
evidences : therefore, 

Resolved, Notified to take, or order to be taken, the aforesaid 
Robert Robb before the Council of Safety, of this State, to whom 
he hath appealed, in order to answer the several charges proven 
against him before this committee, which we have inclosed in a 
letter directed to the said Council of Safety, which you are desired 
to deliver with said prisoner. 

Signed by order of committee. 

Paul Geddis, Chairjnan. 

January 15, 1777. 
Resolved, That notice be sent to Captain Murray, requesting his 
attendance to-morrow morning, which was accordingly sent by Mr. 
Johnson. 
9 



ijo ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

January i6. 

Upon Captain Murray's not appearing according to notice, 
Resolved, That Tiiomas Combs be hired and sent with a second 

notice to Captain Murray, requesting his attendance immediately. 
Upon Captain Murray's non-appearance upon second notice, 
Resolved, That the aforesaid Thomas Combs be again sent with 

a third notice to Captain Murray, and paid five shilhngs for his 

trouble. 

January 17. 

Thomas Combs returned from Captain Murray's, and brought a 
letter of which the following is a copy : 

January 17, 1777. 
Gentlemen : I sent you word by Mr. McKnight and Mr. John- 
son that I would not act any longer as an officer ; and since you 
wont take my word, I now send you my commission, and I hope 
you will believe me now. 

William Murray. 
To the committee. 

Upon Captain Murray's non-compliance with the resolve of this 
committee. 

Resolved, That Simon Himrod and Buchanan Smith be ap- 
pointed to conduct Robert Robb to the Council of Safety of this 
State, and that they be paid two pounds five shilhngs for their 
trouble. 

Resolved, That the sum of one pound ten shillings be paid to 
Captain John Hambright, for this book found by him for the use of 
this committee. 

Resolved, That Mordecai McKinney be paid by the chairman 
one pound two si lUings and six pence, out of the balance received 
by Mr. Clay, on account of expresses to the different officers of 
Colonel Murray';: battalion. 

Job Jolloway applied to this committee for a letter to Thomas 
Ferguson, to go with him to the Six Nations. 

Resolved, That a letter be sent accordingly. 



1777. 1 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



131 



Northumberland, February 13, 1777. 
The following gentlemen being unanimously chosen by their re- 
spective townships to serve in the committee of this county for the 
ensuing six months, met at the house of Laughlan McCartney, in 
Northumberland, and gave in the following returns of their election. 



Augusta township. 



Potter' s township. 
John Livingstone, 
John McMillan. 

Turbutt township. 
Thomas Jordan, 
John Nelson, 
Josiah Espy. 

Buffalo Township. 
John Aurand, 
Thomas Sutherland, 
George Overmire. 

Bald Eagle township. 
John Fleming, 
James Hughs, 
John Walker. 



Mochonoy township. 
George Yeakle, 
Henry Zartman, 
Henry Krebs. 

Penn's township. 
Andrew Moore, 
David Miller, 
Jacob Hosterman. 

White Deer township. 
William Blyth, 
James McCormick, 
William Reed, 

Muncy township, 
John Coates, 
James Hampton, 
William Hammond. 

Mahoning township. 



Wyoming township. 

James McClure, 
Peter Milleck, 
John Clingman. 

The committee, according to order, proceeded to elect their 
chairman and clerk, when Thomas Jordan was unanimously chosen 
chairman, and John Coates, clerk. 



132 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

Resolved, That this committee be adjourned till Tuesday, the 
nth day of March next, when they are to meet at the house of 
George McCandlish ; and as sundry of the townships have neglected 
to send out their members at this meeting, the committee have 
ordered the chairman to give notice to the said townships by public 
advertisement to attend at next meeting. 

March nth, 1777. 

The committee met according to adjournment, Mr. Thomas Jor- 
dan in the chair. 

Upon complaints being made by a certain Allis Read, of Wyom- 
ing township, that he, the said Read, had a horse strayed or stolen 
from him some time ago, and was found in the custody of a certain 
John Drake, when said Read replevied the horse and got him and 
kept him in his possession for about six months, and then the widow 
of said Drake came and took him forcibly out of said Read's stable, 
he not being at home himself, 'and now keeps the horse, and abso- 
lutely refuses to give him up again to the said Read. 

Resolved, That Messrs. James McClure, Peter Milleck, and John 
Clingman, with the assistance of the committee of Wyoming town- 
ship be a joint committee to meet at the house of James McClure, in 
said township, on Saturday, the 2 2d day of this instant, March, to 
hear the complaint and defense of both parties concerning the said 
horse, and that the chairman of this committee issue summons for 
the evidences of the complainer to attend at said meeting, which 
summons are to be served by the complainer himself, as also a sum- 
mons for the said Widow Drake to attend Avith the horse and her 
evidences or reasons, if any she have, why the complainer should 
not have his horse upon proper proofs being made of his being his 
property, and the aforesaid persons are hereby authorized to judge 
and determine betwixt both parties, and upon proper proofs being 
made, give their final judgment in the matter. 

A certain Captain Jacob Links, of Buffalo township, appealed to 
this committee in consequence of a resolve of the committee of said 
township, a copy of which is as follows, viz : 

'^Resolved, That Jacob Links does return several sums of money, 
which a number of the inhabitants of this township did deliver to 
him for the use of purchasing salt, he, said Links, acknowledging he 



1777.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 133 

could have had salt, but it being troublesome times, he was afraid 
he should suffer loss if he would purchase the salt, and a certain 
evidence did declare that he said he was going on his own business 
to Philadelphia, and he, said Links, did not bring salt. 

December 21, 1776, by the committee of Buffalo township. 

(Signed,) Will. Irwin, Chairman^ 

In consequence of said appeal, Mr. Links was called in before 
this committee and asked if he had evidence to produce. He said 
he had, but that he had them not then ready. 

Resolved, That Mr. Links appeal be referred till the next meet- 
ing of committee, and that his evidence be summoned to attend. 

Whereas, Colonel or Captain Benjamin Weiser has made com- 
plaint to this committee that a number of parsons who had been out 
under his command in the militia of this county, in order to join 
the continental army, in New Jersey, and that the said persons were 
deserted from him and returned home to this county, as the same is 
more fully expressed in a letter to this committee, bearing date 
, craving their assistance. 

Resolved, That a day of muster be assigned for the said persons to 
meet and march off to camp, and serve out their time, allowing them 
to elect new officers, if they had any objections to the old ones, cer- 
tifying them also, that if they neglect to obey this resolve, they are 
to be taken up and committed as deserters. 

Whereas, This committee have received a letter from the com- 
mittee of the township of Bald Eagle, together with a resolve of 
their committee anent the selling of grain, &c., in their township, 
craving advice before they should carry their resolve into execution, 
of which the following is a copy : 

February 26th, 1776. We, the committee of the township of Bald 
Eagle met, and as a complaint was made to us by a number of the 
inhabitants that there is a quantity of rye that is going to be carried 
out of the township, for stilling, and that there are some of the in- 
habitants, which have not sold their grain as yet, nor will not sell 
without they get eighteen pence or two shillings per bushel above 
the highest market price that grain is giving in the county, but will 
keep it up and carry it off; and as it appears to us that a great num- 
ber of the inhabitants of the township will suffer if such a practice is 
allowed to go on ; therefore, we 



134 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

Resolve, That no stiller in this township shall buy any more 
grain this season for to still, or still any more than what he hath 
already by him. And further, we resolve, that no grain be carried 
out of this township till the necessity of the poor is supplied, or till 
the first day of May next ; and any person having grain of any kind 
to dispose of, and will not take the market price at Sunbury, reduct- 
ing a reasonable carriage or the highest price that it will be there 
when the grain is wanted, we allow to seize on it and take it by 
force, and pay them their money. Given under our hands the day 
and year above mentioned. 

(Signed,) John Dickson, 

Robert Love, 
James Erwin. 

Resolved, That the committee of Bald Eagle is the most compe- 
tent judges of the circumstances of the people in that township ; 
that, therefore, the affair be referred back to them to act as they shall 
see just cause, but, in the meantime, that they be cautioned against 
using too much rigor in their measures, and that they keep by mod- 
eration as much as possible, and study a sort of medium between 
seizing of property and supplying the wants of the poor. 

Whereas, Report has been made to this committee of a certain 
Henry Sterratt profaning the Sabbath in an unchristian and scan- 
dalous manner, causing his servants to maul rails, &c., on that day, 
and beating and abusing them if they offered to disobey such his 
unlawful commands. 

Resolved, That the committee of Bald Eagle township, where he 
now resides, be recommended to suppress such like practices to the 
utmost of their power. 

Resolved, That this committee be adjourned till Tuesday, the 
15 th of April next, when it is again to meet at the house of George 
McCandlish. 

April i^th, 1777. 

The committee met according to adjournment, Mr. Thomas Jor- 
dan in the chair. 

Whereas, A certain Jacob Dreisbach having disobeyed a sum- 
mons issued by this committee at their last sitting, for him to have 
compeared at this meeting of committee as evidence in the affair of 
Jacob Links, 



1777.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. I35 



Resolved, That a special warrant be now granted for bringing 
him before this committee to-morrow, at nine o'clock. 

April 1 7 /A. 
Jacob Dreisbach was brought before the committee, and being 
duly sworn, he saith that he asked Captain Links if he was the man 
that was to go to Philadelphia for salt, and the said Links answered 
that he was, and said that he had a sister in Philadelphia, and wanted 
to see her, and said it would suit him better to go than another who 
had no errand of their own ; but says, for his own part, he was will- 
ing to allow Captain Links whatever came to his share of the ex- 
penses, at the same rate that the rest of his employers allowed him, 

and further saith not. 

Jacob Dreisbach. 

Mr. George Overmire, a member of this committee, declareth 
that he was present when Captain Links agreed with his employers, 
and says that he was to have his expenses allowed him, whether he 
got salt or not. 

Captain Links compeared and produced his account for traveling 
expenses, which amounted to ;£5 15, acknowledging the leceipt of 
^39 from his employers, part of which he had yet in his hands, 
and says he could have got salt, but it being salt that had been 
already purchased or allotted for the use of this county, and was to 
be distributed over the county at large, it was not answering his 
purpose to bring it, and there was no other salt he could get to 
purchase. 

Resolved, That Captain Links be authorized to keep the sum of 
two shillings and eleven pence half penny out of every pound of his 
employer's money for payment of his expenses, as his account ap- 
pears to this committee to be very moderate. 

Whereas, A certain William Read, of Bald Eagle township, has 
been taken into custody and carried before this committee to an- 
swer for his conduct in refusing to associate and bear arms in behalf 
of the States ; and being asked his reasons for so refusing, his an- 
swers were as follows, viz : 

That he was once concerned in a riot that happened in Ireland, 
commonly known by the name of the Hearts of Steel, and was 
taken prisoner, tried, and acquitted, upon his taking an oath of 



7j6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. Ylll. 

allegiance to the King, and coming [under] solemn obligations 
never to lift arms against him for the future ; he, therefore, looked 
upon it as a breach of his oath to muster or bear arms in behalf of 
the States, as the arms of the States were now employed against the 
King to whom he had sworn allegiance. 

Being further asked if he had any objections to the cause the 
United States were now engaged in, he said he had not any, and 
would be as forward and willing as any to join in it, could he do it 
without breach of his oath. Being asked if he would take an oath 
of allegiance to the United States, he said he would if it did not 
oblige him to take up arms. 

Accordingly an oath was tendered to liim, and he swore as 
follows : 

I do swear to be true to the United States of America, and do 
renounce and disclaim all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, 
and promise that I will not, either directly or indirectly, speak or act 
any thing in prejudice to the cause or safety of the States, or lift 
arms against them, or be any way assistant to their declared enemies 

in any case whatsoever. 

William Read. 

Whereupon, the committee resolved to dismiss him, upon his pay- 
ing the sum of seventeen shillings and one penny half penny, being 
the costs of bringing him before the committee. 

In consequence of sundry accounts, from different parts of the 
county, of a dangerous plot being on foot by some of our enemies 
to bring on an Indian war, and in particular by an intercepted letter, 
wrote by a certain Nicholas Pickard, directed to a certain John 
Pickard, at the house of Caspar Read, in Penn's township, with all 
speed, a copy of which was transmitted to us by Nathaniel Landon, 
of Wyoming, and is now before this committee, and is as follows : 

Wyoming, March ph, 1777. 

Worthy Friend : I cannot omit but write you a few lines, that I 
am in a good state of health, and, further, I let you know that, as 
soon as the river is clear of ice, we shall march from every part ; 
therefore, I would advise you, as a friend, to go out of the way, for 
we then, as soon as the- river is clear of ice, intend to cut all off; 
therefore, I think it is better for you to go out of the way with the 
rest, for against May it will go as you heard it should go. Perhaps 



1777.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 137 

against Easter I will be with you ; then I shall tell you further, and 
give you a better account of it. No more at present, but I remain 
your trusty friend. Give my compliments to them all a thousand 
times ; tell them all that I intend to see them soon. I have wrote 
to you as much as I durst. 

(Signed.) Nicholas Pickard. 

In consequence of which letter, Colonel James Murray and Cap- 
tain James Espy were sent out, by order of this committee, in search 
of the said Nicholas and John Pickard. 

April i']th. 

Captain Espy returned, and brought the body of John Pickard 
before this committee ; and being legally sworn, upon the Holy 
■ Evangelist of Almighty God, 

He saith, that he went up the river, some time about last Christ- 
mas, from Middletown to Wyoming, in a boat, and at Wyoming he 
met with the aforesaid Nicholas Pickard, his own cousin, and that 
they two went by land about twenty miles further up the river, to a 
place called Tankhannock, to see some friends, and being in the 
house of a certain Nicholas Phillips, he, the said Phillips, told his 
cousin and him that the Indians had told him they would come 
down, and cut off all against this spring, or as soon as they got their 
orders ; and that they would in particular strike upon the Mohawk 
river and the waters of the Susquehannough ; and that when he 
parted with the said Nicholas, at that time, he promised to write to 
the deponent as soon as he thought there was immediate danger, so 
that he might go out. of the way ; withal telling him that the Indians 
did not want to kill any that did not take up arms against them, so 
that if he would go out of the way, or lie still on one side, there 
would be no danger of him. And further told him, about a fortnight 
ago, that there were five hundred Indians at Shamung, waiting for their 
orders from Niagara. Likewise, that he, the deponent, asked the 
said Nicholas what his reason was for coming down to Caspar Read's 
at that time, (being about a fortnight ago,) and he told him that the 
Yankees were going to apprehend him for a Tory, and that a certain 
^ Dennis Clark came to him about midnight, and gave him notice of 
it, and accordingly he made his escape down the river to Caspar 
Read's, or that neighborhood. And he has told the deponent, that 



138 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

he has wrote him two letters, one of which was sent by a man of the 
name of Clark, which the deponent thinks is the same Clark that 
gave him notice to go off; and that Clark took sick upon the way, 
and when he could not proceed forward with the letter, by reason 
of his illness, he threw the letter in the fire and burnt it ; and that 
the contents of the letter was, that the Indians were coming down, 
and for the deponent to go out of the way, and further saith not. 

John Pickard. 

An oath of allegiance to the United States being proposed to John 
Pickard, and bail for his good behavior, he complied with both, and 
produced Caspar Read as his bail, who bound himself in a bond of 
an hundred pounds for the good and orderly behavior of John Pick- 
ard, for a year and a day next to come after this date. Then the 
oath of allegiance was tendered to him, and he swore as follows : 

I do swear to be true to the United States of America, and do 
renounce and disclaim all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, 
and promise that I will not, either directly or indirectly, speak or act 
anything in prejudice to the cause or safety of the States, or lift arms 
against them, or be any way assistant to their declared enemies, in 
any case whatsover. So help me God. 

John Pickard. 

Upon the satisfaction given to the committee by the said John 
Pickard, it was unanimously agreed that he be dismissed. 

April T^th. 

Colonel Murray returned, and brought the body of Nicholas Pick- 
ard before this committee, and being [questioned] .anent the aforesaid 
letter, confesseth that he wrote it, and a copy of the letter being 
read unto him, he ackowledged the same in every particular ; and 
further confesseth, that he is in connection with the ministerial 
troops at Niagara, and that he has taken an oath of allegiance to the 
King of Britain, but says he was forced to it ; and further, concerning 
the letter, he says that he wrote it in a kind of mysterious manner, 
by reversing the letters, so that it might not be understood, in case 
it should be intercepted ; and that he sent it by a person of the 
name of Dennis Clark, and that he has seen said Clark since that 
time, who told him that he took sick upon the way, and, seeing that 
he could not get the letter forwarded, he had burnt it. 



1777.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. IJ9 



He likewise says that one Nicholas Philips, at Tankhannock, noti- 
fied him and several others thereabouts to move away with their 
families and connections to a place called Tiogo, in the Indian 
country, as the English were coming down to cut off the inhabitants 
upon the waters of the Mohawk river and the Susquehannough. 
That there were fifteen thousand of the ministerial troops at Niagara, 
which were to be divided ; four thousand of them were to come 
down the North Branch and four thousand down the West Branch 
of Susquehannough, and seven thousand down the Mohawk river, 
and a number of Indians were to be along with them, and that the 
person who informed this Philips of it was one John DePeu, who is 
gone off and joined the English at Niagara, and that he sent him 
this piece of information by an Indian, after he went off. 

Upon due deliberation upon the examination of Nicholas Pick- 
ard, the committee are unanimously of opinion that he is an enemy 
to the States : therefore, 

Resolved, That he be immediately sent from before this commit- 
tee to the Supreme Executive Council of this State, to be dealt with 
as their superior judgments shall direct them in the case, and that 
John Coates be the person who shall carry him thither, and that he 
call as many to his assistance as may be needful. 

Resolved, That this committee be adjourned till the loth day of 
June next, when they are to meet at the house of Mr. Laughlan 
McCartney, in Northumberland. 

January 3, was fought the battle at Princeton, in which Colonel 
Potter's battalion took part. Washington, it will be recollected, 
slipped away from Cornwallis at Trenton, made a forced march on 
Princeton, and had already won the battle there, when Cornwallis, 
having made a forced march, arrived near Stony Brook. Washing- 
ton sent an order to Colonel Potter to destroy the bridge at Worth's 
Mills, on Stony Brook, in sight of the advancing British. Colonel 
Potter ordered Major Kelly to make a detail for that purpose. 
Kelly said he would not order another to do what some might say 
he was afraid to do himself. He took a detail and went to work. 
The British opened upon him a heavy fire of round shot. Before 
all the logs were cut off, several balls struck the log on which he 
stood, and it broke down sooner than he expected, and he fell into 
the stream. His party moved off, not expecting him to escape. 



140 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

By great exertions he reached the shore through the high water and 
.floating timbers, and followed the troops. Incumbered, as he was, 
with his wet and frozen clothes, he made prisoner of an armed 
British scout, and took him into camp. (Lossing, in his Field Book 
of the Revolution, says he was taken prisoner. This is a mistake.) 
Colonel Kelly used to tell that during this tour, for three days at 
one time there was no service of provisions, and during the march 
before and after the battle, they were thirty-six hours under arms 
without sleep. / ^jJilf^ 

Muster roll of Captain Benja7nin Wei^r's companv., at Philadelphia 
January 30, 1777. 

Captain — Weiser, B. 

First Lieutenant — Snider, Christopher. 

Second Lieutenant — Shaffer, Adam. 

Third Lieutenant — Van Gundy, Joseph. 

First Sergeant — Hain, Matthew. 

Second Sergeant — Markle, George. 

First Corporal — Moyer, Philip. 

Second Corporal — Eisenhauer, Frederick, enlisted in the service 
of the United States. 

Privates — Brosius, George ; Brosius, Nicholas ; Faust, John ; 
Furst, Christian, sick at present, (discharged at Reading, by Doctor 
Potts;) Furst, Conrad; Groninger, Henry; Hauser, John ; Heim, 
John; Herter, John; Herrold, George; Hosterman, Peter; Kauf- 
man, Henry; Kerstetter, Adarn ; Kerstetter, Martin: Kerstetter, 
Leonard ; Kitch, Thomas ; Leffler, Adam ; Livengood, John ; Mei- 
ser, John; Moyer, George; Neitz, Philip; Newman, Michael; Pei- 
fer, George; Pickel, Tobias; Reitz, Andrew; Shafer, Christian; 
Shafer, Nicholas; Snider, Jacob; Spengle, Zacharias; Stroub, John; 
Troutner, George, (enlisted in the United States service;) Weis, 
Peter; Witmer, Mathias. 

28th January, the Assembly passed an act reviving all laws in 
force on the 14th of May, 1776, and such of the common and stat- 
ute laws of England as had been in force previously, except the act 
of allegiance, or those that acknowledged the authority of the heirs 
and devisees of William Penn, or were repugnant to the lately 
formed constitution. The courts were directed to be held at the 



1777.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 141 

times and places of old, and the President and Council should desig- 
nate the presiding justice; in his absence, the justices to chose one. • 
The election for justices was fixed for the 25 th of April, two persons 
from each township to be elected, one commissioned. Licenses for 
taverns to be granted by the Executive Council, on recommend- 
ation of the justices. 14th March, register and recorder's offices 
established in every county ; and on the 1 4th of June, the county 
was districted \ Buffalo, White Deer, and Potter placed in the third 
district. The elections to be held at Fought's mill. 

February i, occurred the skirmish at Piscataway, New Jersey. 
Patrick Kellahan, of Captain Clarke's company, was wounded by 
a musket ball in the right thigh. He lay a long while under the 
doctor's hands. The ball, however, was never extracted, at least in 
1786, when Colonel James Murray certified to the facts, in order 
to his drawing a pension. Peter Nees was wounded in the privates, 
and died from want of proper care. He left a widow, Mary Nees, 
and three children. Henry Dougherty and John Fitzsimmons, of 
Northumberland county, were wounded. Lieutenant Gustavus 
Ross, of Lee's company, was killed. Captain Thomas Robinson, 
who was second in command that day, said he was wounded in the 
bowels, and died that night, at Ash Swamp, east New Jersey. Rob- 
ert Wilson, who became ensign of Cookson Long's company, and 
John Norcross, -were wounded. Wilson in the left foot, Norcross 
in the left shoulder. 

The following receipt is a curiosity in its way. It bears date 27th 
May: " Received of Captain John Clarke the sum of five pounds 
and twelve shillings and nine pence, together with three pounds 
seven shillings and three pence, together with four pounds, seven 
shillings bounty and subsistence, being the full pay for a private for 
three months and eighteen days. I say received by me. 

"Jos. Green." 

During the summer Colonel Kelly was commanding on the fron- 
tier. Van Campen, in his narrative, says he served a tour of three 
months with him at this time. Colonel Kelly's guide was Job Chil- 
loway, a friendly Indian. They were stationed at the Big Island, 
near Lock Haven. 

Job Chilloway, says Jones, in his history of Juniata valley, page 
351, spent his latter days on Spruce creek, Huntingdon county, 



142 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

where he was found dead in his cabin, by some hunters, about the 
close of the last century. He was a tall, muscular man, with his ears 
cut so as to hang pendant, like a pair of ear-rings ; so said the late 
E. Bell, Esquire. He was of the Delaware tribe, and his name 
occurs frequently in the Archives, from 1759 on, as a spy, and 
always friendly to the whites. 

April 5 th, General James Potter appointed third brigadier general. 

April 22. " Matthew Brown, whose remains lie buried in White 
Deer Hole valley, was quite a prominent man in our history. He 
was one of the first overseers of the poor for White Deer township ; 
in February, 1776, one of the committee of safety for Northumber- 
land county; in June 1776, a member of t±ie Provincial Council 
that met in Philadelphia to dissolve our political connection with 
Great Britain, and in July, 1776, a member of the State Convention 
that formed our State Constitution of 1776, which he signed on 
the 28th day of September, in that year. In the autumn of 1776 
he entered our provincial or United States army as a soldier, and 
while serving thus contracted what was called 'the camp fever,' 
which compelled him to return home, and finally carried him to his 
grave. He lies buried here in a field, about half a mile south of my 
residence. His grave is surrounded with a rude unmortared stone 
wall, put there by his wife, Eleanor Brown, the widow named in our 
above list of names. After surviving him for a period of thirty-seven 
years, she also died, and now lies buried at his side. The inclosure 
is about ten or twelve feet square in the clear, inside, and contains 
two upright, plain white marble tombstones, now much discolored 
and blackened by time, leaving the following inscriptions and noth- 
ing more, to wit : 

'MATTHEW BKOWN, 

Died April 2 2d, 1777.' 

'ELEANOR BKOWN, 

Wife of Matthew Brown, 
Died August 9 , 1 8 1 4. ' 

"And inside of this stone inclosure there stands four living trees, 
viz : a straight and handsome hickory tree of about sixteen inches 
in diameter near the ground, and three other crooked and scraggy 
trees, a wild cherry tree, and two elm trees of some seven or eight 



1777.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. if3 



inches in diameter near the ground. Mr. Brown seems to have 
been well off, and doubtless owned this land and lived somewhere 
near where he now lies buried. " — /. F. Wolfinger. 

loth May, occurred the action at Piscataway, New Jersey. Chris- 
topher Gettig, afterwards many years a justice at Sunbury, was 
acting first lieutenant that day in Colonel Cooke's regiment. He 
was wounded in the leg and taken prisoner. His leg had to be 
amputated. Some of his descendants live near Bellefonte, Centre 
county, (1877.) 

nth September, battle of Brandy wine. Captain John Brady 
was badly wounded. William Boyd,^ his lieutenant was killed. 
Adam Christ, of Buffalo Valley, was wounded in the breast, a mus- 
ket ball passing clear through his body. Samuel Brady was also in 
this battle. The twelfth was under General Wayne, at Chadd's 
Ford. General Potter was with General Armstrong at Pyles' Ford. 
Christ was in Lieutenant Colonel James Murray's battalion, under 
Potter. 

20th, occurred the Paoli massacre. Samuel Brady was on guard, 
and laid down with his blanket buckled around him. The British 
were nearly on them before the sentinel fired. Brady ran ; and as 
he jumped a fence, a soldier struck at him with a musket and pinned 
his blanket to a rail. He tore the blanket, and dashed on. A 
horseman overtook him, and ordered him to stop. He wheeled and 
shot the horseman dead, and got into a small swamp, supposing no 
one in but himself. In the morning he found fifty-five men in it, 
of whom he took command and conducted to camp. 

I St November, Colonel Hunter writes that he had orders for the 
third and fourth classes of militia to march, but he had neither arms 
or blankets for them ;. that the first and second classes were on the 
frontiers, and had all the good arms that could be collected ; that 
the people were in a bad way ; had not got in any crops. For the 
state of the country, he referred President Wharton to Captain 
John Hambright, who had been chosen of the Council. That the 

1 William Boyd was the son of Sarah Boyd, a widow, who resided at Northumber- 
land, and a brother of Thomas, who shared in all the dangers and fatigues of the 
Canada campaign, (see Judge Henry's Memoirs of Arnold's Expedition,) and fell 
a sacrifice to Indian barbarity in Sullivan's expedition. Another brother, Captain 
Boyd, lived at Northumberland many years afterwards. See Meginness, page 286, 
for his adventures. 



144 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

county was the worst off of any in the State for salt. His next let- 
ter, nth November, Fort Augusta, is as follows: 

Sir : This day the third and fourth classes of the third battalion 
march to join the army of General Washington, under the com- 
mand of Colonel James Murray. The two classes of Colonel Cook- 
son Long's battalion I have ordered to duty on the frontiers, as the 
first class, that was commanded by Colonel John Kelly, has come 
off from thence, after serving two months, to encourage the poor, 
scattered inhabitants to return back to their habitations, which I 
hope will be approved by the Council. The militia that now 
marches is badly off for blankets, and several go without any, and 
but thinly clothed, which shows their attachment to the American 
cause ; though poor, yet brave, and can be depended upon for their 
integrity. The first class that did duty up the Bald Eagle looks to 
me for pay. It has come home with the loss of two men, drowned 

in the river. 

Your obedient servant, 

Samuel Hunter. 

By way of appendix to the year 1777, I insert a letter to Gen- 
eral James Potter. His correspondence, embracing letters from all 
the principal characters in the Revolution, from General Washing- 
ton to Lady Harriet Ackland, after being many years carefully pre- 
served on his garret, were scattered to the four winds, in the mis- 
fortune of some of his descendants, some twenty years ago. His 
dark lantern is still in the possession of Colonel WilHam P. Wilson, 
of Trenton, New Jersey, one of his descendants. 

General Potter's positions are indicated as follows: July 22, in 
command at Billingsport ; 29th August, in command of the first 
brigade, Pennsylvania militia, at Chester; September i, at Wilming- 
ton ; 2d and 5th moved up to Newport. 

Head Quarters, 31^/ October, 1777. 

Sir : As soon as the Schuylkill is fordable, I shall send over a 
large body of militia to you, for the purpose of executing some par- 
ticular matters. The principal one, to endeavor to break up the 
road by which the enemy have a communication with their shipping 
over the islands, if it is practicable; and to remove^ the running 
stones from the mills in the neighborhood of Chester and Wilming- 
ton. This last I would have you undertake immediately, with your 



1777.1 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 145 

present force, as I have information that the enemy are about making 
a detacliment to Wilmington, probably with an intent to take post 
there, and secure the use of the mills. To execute this matter at 
once, you should impress a sufficient number of wagons for the pur- 
pose, without letting any person know what they are for, and send 
them under good officers, with sufficient parties, to the following 
mills : 

Lloyd's, about two miles on this side of Chester ; Robinson's, on 
Naaman's creek ; Shaw's, about one mile back of Chester, and the 
Brandywine mills. If there are any other that I have not men- 
tioned, contiguous to the river, they are also to be dismounted. 
The stones should be marked with tar and grease, or in some other 
manner, that it may be known to what mills they belong, that they 
may be returned, and made use of in the future, and they should be 
moved to such distance that the enemy cannot easily recover them. 
If there is any flour in the mills, it should be removed, if possible, 
after the stones are secured. I am informed that there is consider- 
able quantity in Shaw's mill, particularly, which there is reason to 
believe is intended for the enemy. It is very convenient to the 
navigation of Chester creek, and should be first taken care of I 
beg you may instantly set about this work, for the reason above 
mentioned. That no previous alarm may be given, let a certain 
day and a certain hour be fixed upon for the execution of the whole 
at one time, and even the officers^who are to do the business should 
not know their destination till just before they set out, lest it should 
take wind. 

I have yours of yesterday afternoon, and am glad to hear that the 
flood has done so much damage to the meadows. Endeavor by all 
means to keep the breakers open. When the party that I mentioned 
in the former part of my letter gets down, I hope you will be able 
to break up the dyke effectually. 

I am sir, your most obedient servant, 

George Washington. 

P. S. I have desired Captain Lee, of the light horse, to give you 
any assistance that you may want. 

General Potter. 

From the camp at Mr. Lewes', November 12, 1777, after recom- 
mending Thomas Jordan for paymaster, General Potter writes : 
10 



i4(J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1777. 

"As for news, I have not much. Yesterday came up the river 
thirty-eight sail of the enemy. What number of troops were on 
hoard is a secret to me. I went to Chester in the evening, but could 
not learn. There has been very heavy firing for three days past. 
The first day they did no damage to the works or the men. I have 
intelligence almost every day from the city. Howe is the best Whig- 
maker in the United States. He has converted many from the evil 
of their ways, and turned them imto the country. Distress and want 
is likely to abound in the city. I am told the poor would have 
suffered before this time, if General Washington had not allowed 
them to get flour at the Frankfort mills. Friend Howe is not a par- 
tial man. He uses Whig and Tory alike, which is the best thing I 
can say of him. The friends to the Government lent friend Howe 
^100,000. I believe by this time they would not refuse security, 
if offered . The enemy have made two floating batteries, but they are 
constructed so badly and sunk so deep in the water, they will do us 
little damage. My men brought in to-day five British soldiers pris- 
oners. We catch them napping, sometimes. Firing has been heavy 
to-day, but we stand it as yet. I have tried to get a man to go to 
Red Bank to-day, and to-morrow I hope I will get an account from 
there. I have just received a letter from George Read, Esquire, Pres- 
ident of Delaware State, informing that their militia had seized a 
number of people, who were supplying the enemy's shipping with fresh 
provisions, and destroyed six of their vessels in Duck creek. Three 
weeks ago I advised the taking and keeping of Province and Car- 
penter's Islands. If this had been done, friend Howe would have 
been hungry by this time. We have it reported that on Wednesday 
last our people sank a sixty-four gun ship. On Monday our people 
took twelve light horse and some foot prisoners. The soldiers in the 
city say often that they look upon themselves as our prisoners. One 
day one of the sentinels told Major Taylor so. 

"With esteem, your Excellency's obedient, humble servant, 

" James Potter." 

Directed, on public service, His Excellency, Thomas Wharton, 
Esquire, Lancaster, favor of Mr. Thomas Jordan. 

nth December occurred the action, at Guelph's mills, (near 
Philadelphia,) in which the enemy endeavored to surprise General 
Potter. The second battalion, under Colonel Murray, was engaged. 



1778] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 147 

Timothy Lennington, of Northumberland county, was wounded ; 
Robert McQuilhams was also wounded, and cut to pieces by the light 
horse, the same evening; Charles Clark, first lieutenant of Captain 
Taggart's company, was wounded in the left arm ; had his skull frac- 
tured ; he remained in captivity three years. 

December 15, General Potter writes home, that in an action a few 
days previous his people behaved well, particularly the regiments of 
Colonel Chambers and Colonel Murray. 

December 31, the Council request General Potter to stay in the 
field during the winter, or for some time yet at least. The year 
closes gloomily enough, with the army encamped at Valley Forge. 

A return, dated Camp, in Montgomery, Philadelphia county, 
December 22, shows that Colonel Murray's regiment, of Northum- 
berland county militia, was then in Major General John Armstrong's 
division, and numbered two hundred and twenty-six men on the rolls. 



i^rs 



List of Inhabitants — Indian Troubles — Great Runaway of 1778 — 
Covenhoven's Narrative — John Bashor Killed — Incident of Quinn 
Family — Monmouth Battle — James Brady's Death — Colonel Hart- 
ley's Expedition. 

fHOMAS WHARTON, President of the State until his 
death at Lancaster, 23d May. Members of Congress, 
Clingan, William ; Morris, Robert ; Roberdeau, Daniel ; 
Reed, Joseph; Smith, James; and Smith, Jonathan B. 
Samuel Hunter, Lieutenant of the county. John Hambright, 
member of Council. Members of Assembly elected, October 2, 
Chambers, Stephen; Dale, Samuel; Himrod, Simon; McKnight, 
James; Martin, Robert; and White, John. The candidates voted 
for, having, according to the returns of the judges of the election, 
received the following number of votes each: Samuel Dale, 251; 




148 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 

Simon Himrod, 250; James McKnight, 247; Robert Martin, 246; 
John White, 211; Stephen Chambers, 201; Robert Fruit; 173; 
James Crawford, 170. Another return, signed by John Kelly, 
Walter Clark, and Jacob Fulmer, judges, declared Robert Fruit and 
James Crawford elected, instead of White and Chambers ; but the 
House declared, November 7, that the return of John Clingman, 
William Fisher, and Michael Hessler, was the legal one. David Har- 
ris, Prothonotary. Jonathan Lodge, Sheriff. January i, Benjamin 
Weiser of Penn's, appointed a justice. County Commissioners, 
William Gray, John Nelson, and Thomas Sutherland; John Lytle 
elected in October. Officers of Buffalo : Constable, Martin Trester ; 
Supervisors, John Pontius and George Williams ; Overseers, William 
Speddy and Martin Dreisbach. White Deer : Constable, Henry 
Derr ; Supervisors, James Hammond and William Rodman ; Over- 
seers, Charles McGenet and .William Wilson. 

Inhabitants of Buffalo who canie in after 1775. Books, Henry; 
Barnhart, Martin ; Colpetzer, Adam ; Chambers, Robert ; Cox, 
Samuel; Divler, Joseph; Dempsey, Cornelius; Dugan, William; 
Frederick, Thomas; Ferguson, John; GiUiland, John; Haugha- 
waut, Liftard, tenant of Samuel McClay's place; Irvin, William, 
(miller,) Mensch, Abraham, (who owned and lived on Abraham 
Wolfe's place, in East Buffalo. His wife died in the Valley, and 
was buried at Jenkins mill. He left with the runaway of 1779, 
taking with him his boys. Christian and John, and one horse. He 
never returned. He married again, and the late Reverend J. 
Nicholas Mensch, was a son by the second wife. Christian went 
to Ohio, John to New York; the latter died, about the same time 
the Reverend J. Nicholas died, at Lewisburg, in 1854. The father 
of Abraham and Benjamin, of Lewis township, was a nephew of 
the one here spoken of.) Mizener, Henry and Conrad; Prinkler, 
Charles; Shirtz, Michael; Struble, Richard; Stroh, Nicholas, on 
now Samuel Dunkel's place. (Mathias Allspach made crocks there. 
The latter killed, with a potter's stick, a wolf following the sheep 
into the yard;) Henry Winkert. 

List of Inhabitants of White Deer. 

Allen, Samuel; Ammon, George; Armstrong, William; Baker, Ja- 
cob; Blue, Frederick; Blue, William; Blythe, William; Boone, Haw- 



1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 149 



kins ; Brown, Eleanor ; Brundage, Joseph ; Buchanan, James ; Cald- 
well, James ; Carnachan, William ; Campbell, John; Charters, Wil- 
liam; Clark, Robert; Clark, Walter; 'Clark, William; Cook, Henry; 
Cooper, Robert ; Correy, Robert ; Couples, David ; Crasher, Wil- 
liam ; C-roninger, Leonard ; Dale, Samuel ; Deal, Christian ; Dean, 
Benjamin; Derr, Joseph; Derr, Henry; Diffenderfer, Michael ; Dier- 
mand, Thomas; Dike, David; Dunbar, Samuel; Earl, Michael; 
Elder, Thomas ; Ellis, Richard; Etterburn, Jacob ; Ewing, Alex- 
ander ; Fisher, Christian ; Fisher, John ; Fisher, Samuel, saw-mill ; 
Fleming, Hans ; Fockler, George ; Foutz, Conrad ; Fruit, Robert ; 
Fulton, John; Gibson, Robert; Graham, Edward; Graham, John ; 
Graham, Thomas ; Gray, William ; Green, Ebenezer ; Hammond, 
David; Hammond, James ; Hays, James; Hazlett, John; Heckle, 
Andrew; Heck.man, Andrew; Hill, James; Hood, Elizabeth; 
Houston, Doctor John ; Huling, Marcus, saw-mill ; Hunter, James ; 
Hutchinson, Thomas ; Iddings, Henry; Irwin; George; Irwin, 
Richard; James, Thomas ; Johnson, John ; Johnson, William ; 
Jordan, William ; Kelly, John ; Kilday, George ; Kirkwood, John ; 
Lafferty, Isaac ; Laird, Nicholas ; Leacock, John; Linn, John; Lob- 
den, Thomas ; Low, Cornelius ; Low, Cornelius, junior ; Low, Wil- 
liam; Lykens, Thomas ; McCard, James ; McClenachan, James; 
McCollum, John ; McComb, Daniel ; McClure, Thomas ; McCord, 
Samuel; McCormick, James; McCormick, Thomas; McGinnes, 
Samuel ; McLaughlin, James ; Mcjannet, Charles ; Mackey, Wil- 
liam ; Maffit, Joseph ; Martin, Robert ; Mason, William ; Mitchel- 
tree, John; Moodie, Robert; Moore, Henry; Moore, John; 
Moore, Thomas ; Nicholson, William; Noraconk, Daniel ; Norcross, 
John ; Orr, William ; Pearson, Widow ; Poak, James, saw-mill : 
Poak, Joseph ; Reed, William ; Reed, Widow ; Reese, George ; 
Robb, William; Rodman, William; Row, James; Row, Joseph ; 
Ridehower, Peter ; Semple, John ; Semple, Robert ; Shaw, Hamil- 
'ton ; Shearer, Samuel ; Shields, Archibald ; Smith, John, senior ; 
Smith, John, junior ; Smith, Widow; Stephen, Alexander ; Stephen, 
Philip; Story, John; Stover, PhiUp; Sunderland, Daniel; Swartz, 
Peter; Tate, John; Tate, Joseph; Titzell, Henry, grist and saw- 
mill, (Ranch's now;) Townsend, Codder; Turner, Thomas; Weeks, 
Jesse ; Weeks, Joseph ; Weitzell, John ; Wertz, Deidrich ; Wheeland, 



ISO ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 

George; White, Joseph ; Wilson, Peter ; Wilson, Peter, junior; 
Wilson, William ; Yarnall, Jesse. 

Doctor John Houston was the earliest physician in White Deer 
township, that I have any knowledge of. He is said to have resided 
at or near the present village of Hightown. 

Additional List of Inhabitants , Fenn^s Township. 

Aumiller, Philip ; Bader, George ; Bartges, Christopher ; Bearsh, 
Peter; Begel, Thomas; Benford, George; Billman, Abraham; 
Bickel, John ; Bornson, Catharine ; Bowerman, George ; Bower- 
man, John ; Borald, Adam ; Bowersox, Paul ; Boreminginan, Peter ; 
Bollinger, Adam ; Braucht, Daniel ; Brenard, Francis ; Buchtel, 
John ; Bumbach, George, senior ; Byerly, Anthony ; Carrol, 
Hugh ; Clemens, Abraham ; Conrad, George ; Dauberman, Chris- 
tian ; Deininger, Frederick ; Eberhart, Frederick ; Eckart, Jacob ; 
Fannery, Benjamin ; Fisher, Jacob ; Fisher, Adam ; Fiddler, Ste- 
phen ; Foulke, Jacob ; Fry, John ; Gast, Christian ; Gay, Frederick ; 
Gemberling, Paul ; Gemberling, Jacob ; Gill, William ; Giltner, 
Jacob ; Gillan, Moses ; Gift, Adam ; Glass, George ; Gundy, Peter ; 
Hafer, Andrew; Hains, John; Hampshire, John; Harmin, Henry; 
Hassinger, Herman ; Havelock, Conrad ; Hawn, Michael ; Hen- 
dershot, Casper ; Herrold; Simon ; Herrold, George, a grist mill ; 
Hess, Mathias ; Hosterman, Jacob; Houser, Mathias ; Kern, Yost; 
Kiester, Martin ; Knippenberger, Paul ; Kline, David ; Krain, 
Hugh ; Laudenslager, Ferdy ; Lepley, Jacob ; Lever, Adam ; 
Lower, Peter ; McAteer, Robert ; McCabe, Edward ; Magill, 
Valentine ; Manning, Simeon, senior and junior ; Maris, William ; 
Miller, Conrad ; Miller, Dewalt, saw-mill ; Miller, Sigamund ; 
Mitchell, Daniel ; Mockell, Nicholas ; Molly, Anthony ; Moon, 
John, one grist mill ; Moon, Casper, junior ; Moore, Andrew, two 
mills ; Moyer, Jacob ; Moyer, Charles ; Mower, Michael ; Musser, 
John ; Nees, Thomas ; Netz, Ludwig ; Oatly, Edward ; Paul, 
Dewalt; Phillips, Benjamin ; Reed, John ; Reger, John; Reiber, 
John ; Richter, Christena ; Rine, Henry ; Rorabaugh, Simon ; 
Roush, Jacob ; Roush, John ; Seecrist, Christian, saw-mill ; Sherk, 
John; Shirtz, Jacob; Shock, Jacob; Shoop, George; Snyder, 
Christopher; Spangler, Andrew; Spengle, Zachariah; Stock, John ; 
Stock, Peter; Stock, Michael; Stoke, George; Stum, Abraham, 



1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 151 

junior ; Swineford, Albright, one grist and saw-mill ; Thomas, 
John ; Trester, George ; Trester, Martin ; Trester, Jacob; Weirich, 
William ; Weiser, Philip ; Weiser, John ; Welsh, John ; Willis, 
John ; Wittenmyer, Andrew ; Woodrow, Simeon ; Yost, Casper ; 
Zimmerman, Christopher. 

January ist, (from minutes of Council,) Joseph Green presented his 
claim for supplying the militia with provisions while on their expe- 
dition up the West Branch, and an order was issued for ^1,600 to 
Colonel Hunter for the same. 

January 9th, General Potter gets leave of absence, in consequence 
of sickness of Mrs. Potter, and Brigadier General John Lacey ap- 
pointed to his command. 

February 17th, General Wayne detached Captain William Wilson, 
Lieutenant John Boyd, and Captain George Grant to recruit for the 
Pennsylvania regiments in Northumberland county. At February 
sessions, Samuel Maclay presented a petition, stating that his ser- 
vant had enlisted in the Twelfth Pennsylvania regiment, and John 
Thompson and William Irvine (Irish) were appointed to appraise 
the time of said servant. February 20th, Samuel Dale, member 
elect, took his seat in the Assembly, at Lancaster. March 9th, 
James Murray appeared. Nothwithstanding the Indian troubles, 
courts were held in February and in May. At the latter, John 
Clark, John Crider, George Overmeier, Martin Dreisbach, and 
William Irwin were appointed viewers on a petition to divide Buffalo 
township, by a line commencing at the mouth of Beaver run, thence 
a south-west course to Switzer run. This was never acted upon. 

At August term, Stephen Chambers was admitted to the bar. On 
the grand jury, were Albright Swineford, Elias Younkman, Henry 
Richard, and Thomas Sutherland. At November term, Collinson 
Read and John Vannost, were admitted to the bar. Abraham 
Mensch, Peter Wicoff, and Wilham Clark, were jurors. 

As early as Dececember, i'777, the Indians re-appeared up the 
West Branch, and Colonel Hunter ordered out Colonel Cookson 
Long's battalion, as he says he is an excellent good woodsman ; but 
for all that, on the ist of January, one of the inhabitants was killed 
and scalped, two miles above the Great Island, and eleven Indians 
seen, who were pursued, and two killed. In consequence, the order 
for the fifth class of militia to march to join the army was counter- 



^J2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 1778. 

manded on the 19th. It will be recollected that the main army 
was in camp at Valley Forge, at this time. On the ist of May, 
General Lacey's militia command was surrounded at Crooked Billet- 
General Lacey says, the alarm was so sudden that I had scarcely 
time to mount my horse, before the enemy were within musket shot 
of my quarters. He escaped, with the loss of his baggage, and thirty 
killed and wounded. Some were butchered in a manner the most 
brutal savages could not equal. Even while living, some were thrown 
into the buckwheat straw, and the straw set on fire. The clothes 
were burned on others, and scarcely one without a dozen of wounds. 

From the diary of James F. Linn under date, December 2, 1845, 
I extract the following : " Uncle David Linn told me some anec- 
dotes of Abraham Smith, who was married to his sister Jane, and 
who died in Ohio some years since. He was at Crooked Billet, and 
was taken prisoner with some others. They lost four or five men by 
shots. They knew not where they came from. At last Morrow 
(grandfather of my brother William's widow) got sight of the man, 
who was shooting from behind a tree. He told them to keep still, 
and he would fix him. When the man stepped from behind the tree 
to load, Morrow fired, and one of them saw him drop his hands 
upon his belly, and fall forward. They lossed no more men in that 
way. After they were taken, they were ordered to be shot as rebels. 
The reason for shooting the prisoners was, that they were short of 
provisions. They shot Maclay and Conner, and burned their 
bodies in a pile of buckwheat straw. It was Smith's turn next. He 
stood up, and kept his eye on the man who was to shoot him, until 
he thought he was about to draw the trigger, when he dodged for- 
ward, and the bullet took the depth of itself out of his back, op- 
posite his breast. An officer then interfered, and stopped the shoot- 
ing." Crooked Billet is now called Hatborough, in Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania. 

John Dietrich Aurand (afterward Reverend) enlisted in Colonel 
Stewart's Regiment, General Wayne's brigade. He had been learning 
milling at his father's mill, on Turtle creek. His father sold the mill 
this year, and, possibly, going down the country in search of employ- 
ment, he fell in with the recruiting officer. Before his term expired 
his father went to the army, and made an effort to secure his release, 
on the ground of minority ; but he declined returning, and served 



4 
1778.1 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. J 53 

until the year 1781, when occurred the revolt of General Wayne's 
troops, when he was honorably discharged, and returned to his 
father's home on Turtle creek. 

May 4, Colonel Cooke, twelfth regiment, under General Wayne, 
in 'camp at Mount Joy. 5th May, Colonel John Kelly, with part of 
his battalion, on duty in Penn's valley. May 8, Jacob Standford 
killed at his own house, in Penn's valley, with his wife and daughter, 
and his son, ten or eleven years old, missing.^ 

May 17, General Potter writes from upper Fort, Penn's valley, 
that he was informed by Colonel Long that a few families coming 
to Lycoming, escorted by a party under the command of Colonel 
Hosterman, were attacked by twelve Indians, who killed six of them, 
and six were missing. Three men were killed, at the same time, on 
Loyal Sock ; twenty persons killed on the North Branch. One who 
was taken prisoner made his escape, and says the Indians are determ- 
ined to clear the two branches of the Susquehanna this moon. He 
says we have two forts in the Valley, and are determined to stand as 
long as we are supported. The people were poor, and bread very 
high. May 30, Jacob Morgan writes, that he had just returned 
from camp at Valley Forge. He saw fifteen regiments under arms, 
as well disciplined as any of the British troops can be. They per- 
formed several maneuvers, with the greatest exactness and dispatch, 
under the direction of Baron Steuben. General Washington after- 
wards reviewed them. The British were about evacuating Philadel- 
phia, and our army would follow. One regiment, under Arnold, 
was to go into Philadelphia for civil service, until the Executive 
Council could get there. 

31st May, Colonel Hunter writes, "we are in a melancholy con- 
dition.''' The back inhabitants have left their homes. All above 
Muncy are at Samuel Wallis's. The people of Muncy are at Captain 
Brady's. All above Lycoming are at Antes' mill and the mouth of 
Bald Eagle. The people of Penn's valley are at one place in Potter 
township. The inhabitants of White Deer are assembled at three 
different places. The back settlers of Buffalo have come down to 
the river. Penn's township people have, likewise, moved to the 
river. All from Muncy hill to Chillisquaque have assembled at 
three different places. Fishing creek and Mahoning settlements 

' Their graves are on Ephraim Keller's farm, west of Potter's Fort, (1872.) 



154 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 

have come to the river side. It is really distressing to see the peo- 
ple flying away, and leaving their all, especially the Jersey people, 
who came up here last winter and spring. Not one stays, but sets 
off to Jersey again." 2d June, he writes that the people have drawn 
up a petition to Congress for relief, and Robert Fruit and Thomas 
Jordan were set off to lay it before the Executive Council, for their 
approval, before presenting it to Congress. 

May 6, Colonel Kelly and Thomas Hewitt were appointed agents 
of forfeited estates within the county. 

June 13, Michael Campbell, of Colonel Hosterman's battalion, 
killed by the Indians. 

June 14, Colonel Hunter writes that communication between 
Antes' mill and Big Island was cut off. 

June 17, General Potter writes that Captain Pealer's company, in 
Nittany valley, had discovered a number of tracks, leading down 
Logan's Gap, quite fresh ; thirty in number. 

July I , army moved toward New York. The twelfth Pennsylva- 
nia, in Wayne's brigade, left wing, under General Stirling. 

The " Great Runaway." 

July 3d occurred the massacre at Wyoming, the news of which, 
received on the 5 th, caused the general stampede of the settlers of 
our Valley, called the "Great Runaway." 

On the 9th, Colonel Hunter writes that both branches are nearly 
evacuated, and Northumberland and Sunbury will be the frontier in 
less than twenty-four hours. His letter evinces the agony of a strong 
man, who, with all supports taken away, was determined to fall, if 
need be, in defense of the charge committed to him. He says : 

"Nothing but a firm reliance upon Divine Providence, and the 
virtue of our neighbors, induces the few to stand that remain in the 
two towns ; and if they are not speedily reinforced they must give 
way; but will have this consolation, that they have stood in defence 
of their liberty and country as long as they could. In justice to this 
county, I must bear testimony that the States never applied to it for 
men in vain. I am sure the State must know that we have reduced 
ourselves to our present feeble condition by our readiness to turn 
out, upon all occasions, when called for in defence of the common 
cause. Should we now fall, for want of assistance, let the neighbor- 



.1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 155 

ing counties reconcile to themselves, if they can, the breach of broth- 
erly love, charity, and every other virtue which adorns and advances 
the human species above the brute creation. I will not attempt to 
point out the particular cruelties or barbarities that have been prac- 
tised on our unhappy inhabitants, but assure you that, for the num- 
ber, history affords no instance of more heathenish cruelty or savage 
barbarity than has been exhibited in this county." 

July 12, Matthew Smith writes from Paxton, (Harrisburg,) that 
he had "just arrived at Harris' Ferry, and beheld the greatest scenes 
of distress I ever saw. It was crowded with people who had come 
down the river, leaving everything." 

Same day, Peter DeHaven writes, from Hummelstown : " This day 
there were twenty or thirty passed through this town from Buffalo 
Valley and Sunbury, and the people inform me that there are two 
hundred wagons on the road coming down. I was at Mr. Elder's 
meeting to-day, and Colonel Clark and Colonel Rodgers made an 
appeal to the inhabitants to turn out one himdred volunteers," &c. 

A letter written by William Maclay, from Paxton, on the 12th, 
gives a very graphic picture of the distress. " I left Sunbury, and 
almost my whole property, on Wednesday last. I will not trouble 
you with a recital of the inconveniences I suffered while I brought 
my family, by water, to this place. I never in my life saw such 
scenes of distress. The river and the roads leading down it were 
covered with men, women, and children, flying for their lives. In 
short, Northumberland county is broken up. Colonel Hunter only 
remained, using his utmost endeavors to rally .the inhabitants to make 
a stand. I left him with few. I cannot 'speak confidently as to 
numbers, but he had not a hundred men on whom he could depend. 
Mrs. Hunter came down with me. As he is now disencumbered of 
his family, I am convinced that he will do everything that can be 
expected from a brave and determined man. It was to no purpose, 
Colonel Hunter issued orders for the assembling of the militia. The 
whole county broke loose. Something, in the way of charity, ought 
to be done for the many miserable objects that crowd the banks of 
this river, especially those who fled from Wyoming. You know I 
did not use to love them, but I now pity their distress." 

(Plunket and Maclay were the leading land proprietors who were 
affected by the Connecticut claim.) 



i5(> ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 

Colonel Hunter, in another letter, dated later in the day of the 
1 2th, says : "The towns of Sunbury and Northumberland are the fron- 
tiers, where a few virtuous inhabitants and fugitives seem determined 
to stand, though doubtful whether to-morrow's sun shall rise on them 
freemen, captives, or in eternity !" 

A letter dated Lancaster, 14th July, from Bertram Galbraith, 
says : '' On Sunday morning last, the banks of the Susquehanna, 
from Middletown up to the Blue mountain, were entirely clad with 
the inhabitants of Northumberland county, who had moved off, as 
well as many in the river in boats, canoes, and on rafts. This I 
had from Captain Abraham Scott, a man of veracity, who was up at 
Garber's mills for his sister, the wife of Colonel Samuel Hunter, 
and spake with a lieutenant, who was in the action at Wyoming. 
He also seen six of the wounded men brought down." 

Robert Covenhoven, (Crownover,) describing the scene nearer 
home, says : "I took my own family safely to Sunbury, and came 
back in a keel-boat to secure my furniture. Just as I rounded a 
point above Derrstown, now Lewisburg, I met the whole convoy 
from all the forts above. Such a sight I never saw in my life. 
Boats, canoes, hog-troughs, rafts hastily made of dry sticks, every 
sort of floating article, had been put in requisition, and were 
crowded with women, children, and plunder. The re. were several 
hundred people in all. Whenever any obstruction occurred at any 
shoal or ripple, the women would leap out into the water and put 
their shoulders to the boat or raft and launch it again into deep 
water. The men of the settlement came down in single file, on 
each side of the river, to guard the women and children. The 
whole convoy arrived safely at Sunbury, leaving the entire range of 
farms along the West Branch to the ravages of the Indians." 

At this time occurred the death of John Michael Bashor. Mi- 
chael Weyland, who survived many years afterwards, often related 
the story to my informant. He said it was at the time of the Great 
Runaway ; and as Bashor's name is dropped from the assessment of 
1778, it, no doubt, occurred in the first week in July, 1778. I can 
find no allusion in the Archives, or in any other written record, to 
the event, which is to be accounted for from the confusion occur- 
ring at that time. Bashor came to the Valley in 1774, and in June 
of that year purchased a part of the "Jacob Rees' " tract, near 



1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 157 

New Columbia, of Hawkins Boone. In April, 1777, he sold it 
again to Richard Irwin, and moved down upon the place of his 
father-in-law, Peter Swartz, senior, who owned the land from Doc- 
tor Dougal's nearly up to John Datisman's. Weyland said, him- 
self and another person pushed a boat over from the east side and 
took up Bashor's goods, and then pushed out into the river. Bashor 
went to the stable and got a horse, and attempted to drive some 
cattle down along the shore. When he got down to the bluff that 
comes out to the river, at the present limekiln of Honorable George 
F. Miller, just by a red oak, that was still standing a few years since, 
he was fired upon by some Indians in ambush and killed. Wey- 
land and his comrade, who were lying down in the boat, rose to 
fire, and Weyland was struck on the lip with a spent ball, the mark 
of which he carried to his grave. He said Bashor was buried on 
the river bank. I. D. Rupp, who is a descendant of the Bashor 
family, wrote me that the bloody clothes of John Bashor were still 
preserved in the garret of his grandfather's house, in Bethel town- 
ship, Berks county, as late as 1820; and that he talked with a 
brother of John Bashor, who said he recollected of his brother's 
corpse being brought home. He said, also, his uncle, Martin 
Bashor, who used to live near McKee's Half-Falls, told him that 
John was killed near Georgetown, and a man named Reedy was in 
company with him. This is certainly a mistake. It shows how 
uncertain, as to dates and places, tradition is. 

John Bashor's daughter, Catherine, married Jacob Wolfe, son of 
George Wolfe, one of the first settlers of our Valley. Her children 
were Samuel Wolfe, late of Lewisburg, Michael, Jacob, and Jona- 
than, still living at Lewisburg. 

Albert Pohlhemus and wife, driven off from Muncy, both died 
at Northumberland. They left seven small children, who became 
charges upon the public. One of them was bound to Elias Younk- 
man; some to William Thompson. Court ordered them to be 
brought up in the Presbyterian form of worship. 

Paul Fisher (of Slifer) tells me that at the time Bashor was killed, 
his grandfather, John Fisher, lived at Esquire Datisman's. The In- 
dians burned Peter Swartz's house, and killed a man named Ayres, 
near White Deer creek. His grandfather, with his two sisters, con- 
cealed themselves in the straw in their barn, and expected every mo- 



iS8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 

ment to be burned up in it ; but the Indians went into Hoffman's 
house, just above, and carried out a good many articles, among the rest 
a clock. They seated themselves to examine the clock, when Aaron 
Norcross, John Fisher, junior, and others who had gathered, hallooed 
and startled them off, leaving their plunder. This old clock is still 
in the possession of Jacob Hoffman, living up near the Muncy hills. 

David Quinn, Esquire, of Chicago, grandson of Terrence Quinn, 
has furnished me with an interesting incident of this attack of the 
Indians in Dry valley. He says, ' ' my great grandfather Corinnius 
Michael, an old soldier of the days of Frederick the Great, emi- 
grated to America, prior to the Revolution, and brought with him 
two daughters. What became of the youngest, after her arrival, for 
some time, is now unknown ; but the oldest, Mary, was sold for a 
term of years, as was the custom in those days, to pay her passage 
over. While residing with the family that purchased her in Lancas- 
ter, Pennsylvania, my grandfather, Terrence Quinn, formed her 
acquaintance, purchased her unexpired time, and married her. In 
1778, they had four little children, and the other sister, unmarried, 
was living with them. The night the Indians entered the Valley, 
the news was spread through a system of alarms previously arranged; 
and those who received warning, fled precipitately. My grandfather 
and family ran in one direction, and my grandaunt in another. 

"■ They were thus separated, and continued separated for fifty-two 
years, each one supposing the other had been tomahawked. At the 
end of this long period, one of my grandmother's neighbors, whose 
name I have forgotten, was traveling in the Mahanoy valley, at a 
time when the stream was so swollen that she was compelled to stop 
at a farm house for shelter. While here, she fell into conversation 
about friends and relatives with an old woman, who proved to be 
the grandmother of the house full of children, and the mother of 
John Lechman, the proprietor of the premises. The old lady re- 
lated the story of her kindred, and among other things remarked, 
that she once had a sister, but she had been killed by the Indians, 
in a place called Dry valley, more than fifty years ago. A little 
more conversation developed who she was, and the joyful informa- 
tion, that her visitor was a neighbor of her sister, and she was still 
alive, and lived on Turtle creek, near Lewisburg. The traveler re- 
turned, and told her story. Before the sun had risen over Montour's 



1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 159 

ridge the next morning, Mary Quinn, though in her ninetieth year, 
was on her way to see her long lost sister. They met, but not as 
they parted. Each frame, now bent with the weight of years, em- 
braced its kindred, long mourned as dead. Such a meeting, who 
can describe ? The sacred pensman of the history of Joseph, alone. 
It was their final meeting, too ; but they are now where there are 
no partings." 

(1872.) . Philip Seebold told me he often heard old Mrs. Fought 
tell of this raid. She said, they were threshing flax on their place, 
where the road through Chappel's Hollow comes out into Dry val- 
ley, when the Indians came upon them suddenly. Her baby was 
near her, and she picked it up and ran. Another child, that could 
just run about, was back of their little barn. She heard it call, '■' O 
mother, take me along, too." She looked around, and the Indians 
were close upon her. She ran the whole way, two miles, to Penn's 
creek, to a house where the neighbors had gathered. She never 
heard of her child again; but as there was no indication that it was 
killed, she hoped for its return some day. At night and in the quiet 
hours of the day, the last words of her child, " O mother, take me 
along, too," she said, rang in her ears, long years after. 

She said the house they took refuge in, was surrounded by the 

Indians. They suffered from thirsty and a man named Peter 

said he would have water, if he died for it. They allowed him to go 
out, and as he turned the corner of the house, a rifle cracked, and 
he fell dead. The next day the Indians withdrew, and they em- 
barked in canoes, and went down Penn's creek. On the Isle of Que, 
she said, she went into a house, and found no one about. A baby 
sat propped up m a cradle. On close inspection, she found it was 
dead, and the marks of the tomahawk. 

Incidents of the Battle of Monmouth. 

Captain William Wilson Potter, of Bellefonte, has the flag of the 
Royal Grenadiers, captured on the field of Monmouth, by his (ma- 
ternal) grandfather, the late Judge William Wilson, of Chillisquaque 
Mills, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. 

The ground or main surface is lemon, or light yellow, heavy 
corded silk; five feet four inches by four feet eight ; corresponding. 



i6o ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 

in proportions, with the flag of the seventh regiment, surrendered, 
among others, by Cornwallis, at Yorktown, and presented, by order 
of Congress, to General Washington, lately in the museum at Alex- 
andria, Virginia, but eight inches less in size ; the latter being six 
feet long, and five feet four inches wide. 

The device at the upper right corner is twenty inches square, 
and is that of the English Union, which distinguishes the Royal 
standard of Great Britain. It is composed of the Cross of Saint 
George, to denote England, and Saint Andrew's Cross, in the form 
of an X, to denote Scotland. This device was placed in the corner 
of the Royal flag, after the accession of James the Sixth of Scotland 
to the throne of England, as James the First. The field of the device 
is blue, the central stripes (Cross of Saint George) red, the marginal 
ones white. It wants the Crown and Garter, and full blown rose in 
the centre, of the Alexandria flag. 

The flag has the appearance of having been wrenched from the 
staff, and has a few old dust marks on the device ; otherwise it looks 
as bright and new as if it had just come from the gentle fingers that 
made it, although ninety -nine years have rolled away since its golden 
folds drooped in the sultry air of that June-day battle. 

The battle of Monmouth occurred on the 28th of June, 1778 ; a 
fearfully hot day, evinced by the fact that fifty-nine of the British 
soldiers died of heat, without receiving a wound. This flag was cap- 
tured near the old parsonage of the Freehold, New Jersey, church, 
where the hottest of the fighting was. A short description of that 
portion of the engagement will interest many : 

After General Lee's retreat was checked by General Washington, 
in person, the latter formed a new line for his advanced troops, and 
put Lee again in command. General Washington then rode back to 
the main body, and formed it on an eminence, with a road in the 
rear and a morass in the front. The left was commanded by Lord 
Stirling, with a detachment of artillery; Lafayette, With Wayne, 
was posted in the center, partly in an orchard, and partly sheltered 
by a barn ; General Greene was on the right, with his artillery, under 
General Knox, posted on commanding ground. General Lee main- 
tained his advanced position as long as he could, himself coming off 
with his rear across a road, which traversed the morass in front of 
Stirling's troops. The British followed sharp, and, meeting with a 



1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. i6i 

warm reception, endeavored to turn the left flank, but were driven 
back. They then tried the right, but were met by General Greene's 
forces, and heavy discharges from Knox's artillery, which not only 
checked them, but raked the whole length of the columns in front 
of the left wing. Then came a determined effort to break the cen- 
ter, maintained by General Wayne and the Pennsylvania regiments, 
and the Royal Grenadiers, the flower of the British army, were 
ordered to do it. They advanced several times, crossing a hedge 
row in front of the morass, and were driven back. Colonel Monck- 
ton, their commander, then made a speech to his men, (the troops 
at the parsonage and those in the orchard heard his ringing voice 
above the storm of the battle,) and, forming the Grenadiers in solid 
column, advanced to the charge like troops on parade, the men 
marching with such precision that a ball from Comb's hill, enfilading 
a platoon, disarmed every man. 

Wayne ordered his men to reserve their fire, and the British came 
on in silence within a few rods, when Monckton waived his sword 
above his head, and ordered his Grenadiers to charge ; simultane- 
ously, Wayne ordered his men to fire, and a terrible volley laid low 
the front ranks, and most of the officers. The colors were in ad- 
vance, to the right, with the colonel, and they went down with him. 
Captain Wilson and his company, who were on the right of the 
first Pennsylvania, made a rush for the colors and the body of the 
colonel. The Grenadiers fought desperately, and a hand to hand 
struggle ensued, but the Pennsylvanians secured his body and the 
colors. The Grenadiers gave way, the whole British army fell back 
to Lee's position in the morning, and decamped so quietly in the 
night that General Poor, who laid near them, with orders to re- 
commence the battle in the morning, was not aware of their de- 
parture. 

Colonel Monckton was a gallant officer. He had been lieuenant 
colonel in the battle of Long Island, where he was shot through the 
body, but recovered. He was buried, the day after the battle, in 
the Freehold church- yard, about six feet from the west end of the 
building. The only monument that marks his grave is a plain 
board, painted red, upon which is painted in black letters, "Hie 
Jacet, Col. Monckton, killed 28th June, 1778. W. R. W." By a 
note-worthy coincidence in name, this board was prepared and set 
11 



ib2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 



up by a Scotch school-master, named Wilson, who taught the 
young people in the school-house near the old meeting-house. 

Chappel's painting of this battle represents the scene as Monck- 
ton fell, and the fearful hand to hand fight over his body ; and the 
little old-fashioned sword looks as if it might have been painted 
from the original, now in the possession of Mrs. Abram S. Wilson, 
of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. On the left is the old parsonage. Be- 
yond it the morass, (now, 1872, good meadow land with a fine stream 
of water running through it,) extending right and left. On the right 
is the rising ground from which the Grenadiers made their charge. 

The. sword had many adventures, and never got back to its 
captor in his hfe time. (Judge Wilson died in 1813, and is buried 
in the Presbyterian church-yard, in Northumberland. He was as- 
sociate judge of Northumberland, from 1792 until his death, when 
he was succeeded by the late Honorable Andrew Albright.) Captain 
Wilson gave it to General Wayne, who presented it to General La- 
fayette, who took it with him to Europe, retained it all through 
the upheavals &.nd riots of the French revolution, his captivity in a 
dungeon at Olmutz, and brought it with him to America in 1824, 
when he visited America, upon the invitation of the United States 
Government. It is a remarkable instance of his thoughfulness that, 
after the lapse of nearly half a century, he desired to restore it in 
person to Captain Wilson. He made inquiries in Philadelphia for 
him, and' not being able to hear anything of him, he left it with 
old Captaiii Hunter, with express directions to restore it to Cap- 
tain Wilson, or if dead, to some of his family. After some years 
Captain Hunter, found out through Mrs. Billington, of Sunbury, 
that Judge A. S. Wilson was a son of Captain Wilson, and had the 
pleasure of delivering the sword to the judge, the next time he 
went to Philadelphia. 

The flag was always in the possession of Judge Wilson, senior, 
and his family. I can recollect well, at least thirty- five years ago, 
when his son William used to display it on the 4th of July, at 
Lewisburg and Milton, make a speech about it, and then have a 
salute fired from sheriff Brady's cannon, brought from Fort Free- 
land. 

Mrs. John B. Linn, of Bellefonte, has a very fine oil portrait of 
her grandfather. Captain William Wilson, taken sixty or seventy 



1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ibj 



years ago, pronounced by aged people about Northumberland an 
excellent likeness. 

On the 1 6th of July, Colonel Brodhead's regiment, on its way 
to Fort Pitt, was ordered to the West Branch; part of Colonel 
Hartley's regiment was on its way to Sunbury, and the militia 
were ordered up from Lancaster and Berks, and the people came 
back to reap their crops. July 24th, Colonel Brodhead, then at 
Muncy, detached a captain and twenty-four men into Penn's val- 
ley to protect the reapers at General Potter's place. General Pot- 
ter writes from Penn's valley, on the 25 th, that " the inhabitants of 
the valley are returned, and were cutting their grain. He left Sun- 
bury last Sunday afternoon, and the people were returning to all 
parts of the county. Yesterday, two men of Captain Finley's com- 
pany, of Colonel Brodhead's regiment, went out from this place 
on the plains a little below my fields, and met a party of Indians, 
five in number, whom they engaged. One of the soldiers, Thomas 
Van Doran, was shot dead ; the other, Jacob Shedacre, ran about 
four hundred yards, and was pursued by one of the Indians. They 
attacked each other with their knives, and our excellent soldier 
killed his antagonist. His fate was hard, for another Indian came 
up and shot him. He and the, Indian lay within a perch of each 
other. These two soldiers served with Colonel Morgan in the last 
campaign." James Alexander, who, in after years, farmed the Old 
Fort farms, near Centre Hall, casually kicked up a hunting knife, 
so rusted as to indicate that it might have belonged either to the 
Indian or the soldier killed. Two stones were put up to mark the 
spot on William Henning's place, near Old Fort. 

August I, Colonel Hartley was in command at Sunbury, with his 
regulars and two hundred militia. On the 8th he was at Muncy, 
Colonel Brodhead's regiment having resumed its march to Fort 
Pitt. Lieutenant Samuel Brady belonged to this regiment — the 
eighth — in which he was appointed Captain July 28, 1780. 

Sunbury, August i. General Potter writes: "I came here last 
week to station, the militia. I found General deHaas here, who 
said he commanded all the troops. The next day Colonel Hartley 
came and showed me his orders to command the troops, and po- 
litely requested me to take the command, which I declined, as I 
never was very fond of command, and this is a disagreeable one. 



j64 annals of buffalo valley. [1778- 



I rather chose to act as a private gentleman, and do all the good in 
my power J but people will make observations." 

August 8, James Brady was killed above Loyal Sock. Colonel 
Hartley relates the circumstance as follows : A corporal and four 
men of his regiment, with three militia, were ordered to guard four- 
teen reapers and cradlers who went to cut the grain of Peter Smith, 
who had his wife ^ and four children killed by the Indians. On 
Friday they cut the greater part, and intended to complete the work 
next morning. Four of the reapers improperly moved off that 
night. The rest went to work — the cradlers, four in number, by 
themselves, near the house ; the reapers somewhat distant. The 
reapers, except Brady, placed their guns around a tree. Brady 
thought this wrong, and put his at some distance from the rest. 
The morning was very foggy, and an hour after sunrise the sentry 
and reapers were surprised by a number of Indians, under cover of 
the fog. The sentry retired towards the reapers, and they in turn 
fell back. Brady ran towards his rifle, and was pursued by three 
Indians, and, within a few rods of it, was wounded. He ran for 
some distance, and then fell. He received another wound with a 
spear, and was tomahawked and scalped in an instant. The sentry 
fired, but was shot down, as also a militia-man. Young Brady, 
who is an exceeding fine young fellow, soon after, rose and came 
to the house. Jerome Vanness ventured to remain with him ; the 
others fled. There were thirty Indians, supposed to be Mingoes. 
Brady wanted Vanness to leave him, but he would not do it. He 
assisted him to the river, where he drank a great deal of water. 
Captain Walker and a party came up from the fort at Muncy. 
When they approached, Brady, supposing them to be Indians, 
sprang to his feet and cocked his gun. They made a bier and car- 
ried him to Sunbury, where his mother then was. Robert Coven- 
hoven was one of the party. On the way he became delirious, and 
drank large quantities of water. It was late at night when they got 
there, and they did not intend to arouse his mother. But she had 
fears that something had happened, and met them at the river. He 
was a fearful looking object, and the meeting with his mother was 
heart-rending. He lived five days, the first four being delirious ; 
but on the fifth his reason returned, and he related the whole cir- 

1 Peter Smith's farm was on Turkey run, across the river from Williamsport. 



1778.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 165 

cumstance distinctly. He said Bald Eagle belonged to the party, 
who was afterwards killed by Captain Samuel Brady, on the Alle- 
gheny. James Brady was buried at Fort Augusta, but his grave 
has, with that of many others, been long since plowed over. 

August 8, the justices of the court, through Thomond Ball, deputy 
prothonotary, notify the president of the State Council that busi- 
ness is much impeded for want of an attorney to prosecute for the 
Commonwealth ; that it was the second court at which no State 
attorney had appeared, and many persons had to be admitted to 
bail; that the long suspension of justice, from February, 1776, to 
November, 1777, had rendered the people licentious enough, and a 
further delay of executing the laws must lead them to lengths too 
difficult to be recalled ; tippling-house keepers, the notorious pro- 
moters of vice and immorality, remained unpunished, though fre- 
quently returned, for want of an indictment ; that there were two 
prisoners for murder, one was admitted to bail and the other in 
close confinement, who should be brought to trial. In August, bill 
found against Isaac Webb for misprision of treason. 

September i. Captain John Brady returned to the army. 

2ist September. As some of our settlers took a very prominent 
part in Colonel Hartley's expedition, it is worthy of a short sketch. 
It left Muncy on the 21st, two hundred rank and file strong, at four, 
A. M., with twelve days provisions. Great rains, swamps, mount- 
ains, and defiles impeded the march. They waded or swam the 
Lycoming creek twenty times. On the morning of the 26th, the 
advance party of nineteen men met an equal number of Indians. 
Our people had the first fire, and an important Indian chief was 
killed and scalped ; the rest fled. A few miles further, they came 
upon a camp where seventy Indians lay the night before. These 
also fled. They then pressed on to Tioga, now Athens, Bradford 
county. They burned Tioga, Queen Esther's palace and town. 
On the 28th, they crossed the river and marched towards Wyalu- 
sing, where they arrived at eleven o'clock that night. Here seventy 
of the men took to the canoes and the rest marched by land. Lieut. 
Sweeney commanded the rear guard of thirty men, besides five 
scouts under Captain Campleton. The advance guard consisted of 
an officer and fifteen men. At two o'clock, a heavy attack was 
made on the rear, which gave way. At this critical moment Cap- 



i66 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1778. 

tains Boone and Brady, and Lieutenant King, with a few brave fel- 
lows, landed from the canoes, joined Sweeney, and renewed the 
action. They advanced on the enemy on all sides, with great noise 
and shouting, when the Indians fled, leaving their dead, (ten.). 
The expedition arrived at Sunbury on the 5 th of October, having 
performed a circuit of three hundred miles, and brought off fifty 
head of cattle, twenty-eight canoes, &c. 

November 9, Colonel Hartley writes from Sunbury that the 
enemy had come down and invested Wyoming, and destroyed the 
settlements on the North Branch as far as Nescopeck. About 
seventy Indians were seen twenty-two miles from here yesterday, 
advancing towards the forks of the Chillisquaque creek. They took 
some prisoners yesterday. 

14th, he writes from Fort Jenkins that he is advancing towards 
Wyoming. 

December 4, John Macpherson bought the Andrew Gibson place 
and ferry, now Cauley's, Winfield. 

In the fall of 1778, as a party of settlers were leaving Fort Free- 
land, they were fired at, and Mrs. Durham's infant was killed in her 
arms. They scalped her, and when the men came there, she raised 
up and asked for a drink of water. Elias Williams ran to the river 
and brought his hat full. They put her in a canoe and took her to 
Northumberland, where Dr. Plunket dressed her wounds, and she 
lived for fifty years afterwards. She is buried in the Warrior Run 
grave-yard. 

The mill of Samuel Fisher, who resided on what is now Kaufman 
furnace tract, was burned this tall, it was said, by some settlers, to 
get nails, the place having been abandoned. In a letter, in Decem- 
ber, Colonel Hunter expresses great regret at Colonel Hartley's 
departure. He says he made the very best possible use of his troops. 
He complains of the forestallers of grain, whom he looks upon as 
worse than savages, for raising the price of grain upon the people. 

December i, Joseph Reed elected President of the State, Cham- 
bers, Dale, and Himrod voting for him. 



i^^9- 




Death of Captain John Brady — Indian Outrages in the Valley— John 
Sample and Wife Killed— Capture of Fort Freeland — Death of 
Captain Hawkins Boone. 

[RESIDENT of the State, Joseph Reed. Councillor, 
John Hambright. Members of Assembly, Samuel Dale, 
Robert Martin, and William Montgomery. Presiding 
iH Justice, Thomas Hewitt. Prothonotary, David Harris. 
Officers elected in October : Sheriff, Major James Crawford ; Cor- 
oner, John Foster ; County Commissioners, Walter Clark and Wil- 
liam Mackey ; Assessors, Albright Swineford, Peter Kester, William 
Clark, etc. 

Buffalo : Constable, Joseph Taveler ; Supervisors, Casper Bower 
and Alexander McGrady ; Overseers, Ludwig Derr and James Mc- 
Celvey. 

White Deer: Constable, James Pollock; Supervisors, Thomas 
Leckey and James McClenachan; Overseers, Thomas Hutchinson 
and Philip Stover. 

At February sessions, Jacob Links was licensed, the first tavern in 
Derrstown. 

25th March, Joseph McHarge made affidavit before the court, 
that he, with others of Colonel Cooke's twelfth Pennsylvania regi- 
ment, was taken prisoner at Piscataway, (loth May, 1777 that he 
was carried to New York, compelled to take the oath of allegiance, 
and sent on board the vessel that carried General Howe's baggage to 
Philadelphia, whence he made his escape in disguise ; that his sight 
had failed him, and, on account of bodily infirmity, he could not go 

i6y 



i68 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1779. 

back into service. Tlie court discharged him. Some companies of 
the twelfth were now in General St. Clair's division, first brigade. 
St. Clair complained to the Council, which ordered Justice Hewitt 
to deliver him over to the military authorities. 

nth April, Captain John Brady was killed. He was born in the 
State of Delaware, in 1733. His father, Hugh, an emigrant from 
Ireland, first settled in Delaware, and then removed to within five 
miles of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. John Brady married Mary 
Quigley, and their eldest son, Samuel, was born in Shippensburg, in 
1758. He was a surveyor and pioneer in the settlements, and lived 
at Standing Stone, now Huntingdon, in 1768, when his son. Gen- 
eral Hugh, and twin sister, Jennie, were born. In 1769 he came 
over on the West Branch, and settled on what is still the property of 
Honorable George Kremer's heirs, opposite Strohecker's landing, 
below Lewisburg, where he resided until the fall of 1776, when he 
removed to a place a -little above Muncy, and built upon it. Octo- 
ber 14, 1776, he was appointed captain in the twelfth Pennsylvania, 
and was wounded severely in the battle of Brandy wine. 

I copy McCabe's account, published many years ago in the Blairs- 
ville (Indiana county) Record. For General Hugh Brady's account, 
see 1783. McCabe, no doubt, received his version from William P. 
Brady, senior : 

" It became necessary to go up the river some distance to procure 
supplies for the fort, and Captain John Brady, taking with him a 
wagon team and guard, went himself, and procured what could be 
had. On his return in the afternoon, riding a fine mare, and within 
a short distance of the fort, where the road forked, and being some 
distance behind the team and guard, and in conversation with a man 
named Peter Smith, he recommended Smith not to take the road the 
wagon had, but the other, as it was shorter. They traveled on to- 
gether, until they came near a run where the same road joined. 
Brady observed, ' This would be a good place for Indians to secrete 
themselves.' Smith said, 'Yes.' That instant three rifles cracked, 
and Brady fell. The mare ran past Smith, who threw himself on 
her, and was carried in a few seconds to the fort. The people in the 
fort heard- the rifles, and, seeing Smith on the mare, coming at full 
speed, all ran to ask for Captain Brady, his wife along, or rather 
before the rest. Smith replied, * In heaven or hell, or on his way 



1779.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ibg 

to Tioga ;' meaning he was either dead or a prisoner to the Indians. 
Those in the fort ran to the spot. They found the Captain lying in 
the road, his scalp taken off, his rifle gone, but the Indians were in 
such haste that they had not taken either his watch or his shot pouch." 

Jasper E. Brady, Esquire, told me, in 1870, that some thirty years 
before, when General Hugh Brady visited him at Chambersburg, 
some old citizen,»in conversation with him, asked him whether he 
ever knew John Montour. He became very much excited, and 
said, "Yes, he is the damned scoundrel that killed my father." I 
am unable to reconcile this with the fact that General Brady, in his 
account of his father's' death, (postea, 1783,) says nothing about it. 
Besides, Heckewelder's letter, the proper date of which is April 28, 
(see Pennsylvania Archives, Appendix, 1790, page iii,) from Con- 
shocking, which was in the lower part of Ohio, says that John Mon- 
tour had come there from the Wyandotte town, (now Sandusky, 
Ohio,) and from a council near Detroit, where the English commander 
had ordered his arrest as a spy, and the men had followed him nine 
days. The whole letter shows that he must have been about Detroit, 
four hundred miles, as the crow flies, from where Captain Brady was 
killed, on the nth of April. Further, on the first of July, as appears 
by Colonel Brodhead's letter, ibid., page 134, Captain Samuel Brady 
and John Montour had left Fort Pitt with a party to capture Simon 
Girty and seven Mingoes, who were on a raid. He would hardly 
have consorted with the murderer of his father. Heckewelder, in 
a letter of 30th of June, to Colonel Brodhead, says, " John Montour 
is to be looked upon as without deceit." Captain Brady's death is 
not mentioned in any contemporary written record that I have been 
able to find. It is possible it was the result of revenge, but most 
likely it was an attack by one of the marauding parties that preceded 
McDonald and his rangers. 

Mishael Lincoln (grandfather of R. V. B. Lincoln, Esquire) said 
he was in the fort when Captain Brady was killed, and assisted in 
carrying in his body. Captain Brady made surveys in Buffalo and 
White Deer valleys. I have, perhaps, the only autograph of him in 
existence, attached to an old survey of date 1770. 

The accounts of John Montour are conflicting. Meginness says 
he was wounded at Fort Freeland, 29 th July, and died and was 
buried at Painted Post a few days after. Nevertheless, he was alive 



^70 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1779. 

on the 1 2th of December, 1779. See Colonel Brodhead's letter, 
ibid., 197. 

Colonel Kelly used to relate that one of the Montours released 
two American prisoners and conducted them safely to within a few 
miles of Northumberland, and the ungrateful scoundrels killed him 
there ; and he pointed out where he was buried, near a clump of 
trees that stood to the left of the road, a short distance below what 
is now known as " Molly Bullion's spring." 

26th April, Michael Lepley, of Penn's township, aged 41, killed at 
Fort Freeland. Jacob Speese, in a certificate dated the 26th of 
June, 1786, states that he was stationed therewith a party of militia. 
He was a lieutenant in command, and on the request of Mr. Me- 
Knight, he sent a guard of six men to go with him to his plantation, 
a short distance from the fort. 

Aaron K. Gift, Esquire, of Middleburg, furnished me with the 
following narrative of this occurrence, as related by his grandfather, 
Jeremiah Gift, who died at an advanced age, in 1843. The Gift, 
Herrold, and Lepley families came to Middle Creek valley in the 
year 1771. John Adam Gift, (great-grandfather of A. K.,) settled 
on the left bank of Middle creek, three miles west of where Middle- 
burg now stands ; owned and occupied the farm now owned by 
John H. Walter. His three sons were Jacob, Anthony, and Jere- 
miah. The militia were then drawn in classes. Jacob had been 
drawn, and served a tour in the eastern part of the State. The lot 
in 1779 fell upon John Adam, the father. Jacob insisted on serving 

in his stead. Michael Lepley and Herrold were drawn at the 

same time. They were stationed at Fort Freeland, near which 
lived a family named McKnight, father and son. They secured a 
guard consisting of fourteen persons, among whom were Jacob Gift, 
Michael Lepley, and Herrold, to go to milk their cows. The cows 
were driven into a pen, and while milking, they were surprised by 
a party of thirty Indians, who fired upon them. They were so 
completely surprised, they could make very little resistance. Lep- 
ley, with others, and old Mr. McKnight, were killed. Herrold ran 
for the fort. As he ran along a field which sloped towards the fort, 
the soldiers in the fort heard the report of a rifle, and saw him fall, 
and an Indian scalp him. Jacob Gift also tried to make his escape, 
but was overtaken. When the pursuing soldiers came up, they 



1779.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ij^ 



found evidence of a hard fight ; the ground was bloody, his rifle 
broken in pieces, and himself tomahawked and scalped. He had 
sold his life as dear as possible. Young McKnight was the only 
one who escaped. He jumped Warrior run, and a tomahawk struck 
the top rail of the fence just after he cleared it. He was the only 
one left to tell the tale. Upon Jacob Gift's father the stroke fell 
heavy. He said, " It was my lot to go, but my son went and gave 
his life for mine." Michael Lepley left a widow, Mary A., and 
some children. She drew a pension for many years afterwards. 

In May, John Sample and wife were killed. The inhabitants had 
mostly left the Valley. The mihtia were out, under Colonel Kelly. — 
William Lyon's letter, May 13. This marauding party consisted 
of from fifteen to seventeen Indians. Christian Van Gundy, senior, 
was one of a party, with Henry Vandyke, who went up to bring 
these old people away. (They lived on a farm lately owned by 
Abram Leib, near Ramsay's school-house, in White Deer, where 
their graves may still be seen.) Van Gundy was a sergeant, and 
had six men in his party. Six more were to follow them the next 
day. After Van Gundy got there, he had slabs put up against the 
door, and water carried upon the loft. After dark an Indian came 
around the house, barking like a dog, and rubbing against the door. 
They paid no attention, but lay down, and slept until about three, 
A. M., when Van Gundy got up, and lighted a fire. The Indians 
then surrounded the house, and, mounting a log on their shoulders, 
tried to beat in the door. Those inside then fired, wounding two, 
whom they saw carried off. An Indian then came around behind 
the house, and set it on fire. Van Gundy mounted the loft, knocked 
off some Qf the roof, and put out the fire. In this encounter he was 
struck on the leg by a spent ball, which marked him for some time. 
Another of the party had his side whiskers shot off. When daylight 
came they put it to vote, whether they should remain in the house or 
try to get off. Two voted to stay, four to go. On opening the door 
they found an Indian chief lying dead in front of it. Van Gundy 
took the Indian's rifle, Vandyke his powder horn, (which was still 
in the possession of John Vandyke, in Illinois, some years ago.) 
The Indians came on suddenly, with loud yells, and the men sepa- 
rated. Van Gundy, with his two guns, took into a ravine, and tried 
to get the old people to follow him. They refused, and followed 



172 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1779. 

the young folks, one of whom, Adam Ranck used to say, was their 
son. Van Gundy said he soon heard several shots. These killed 
the old people, who were scalped, and left lie. 

The Indians followed them several miles. Van Gundy said he 
never expected to get out alive, but with his two guns he thought he 
could kill two at least. He made a circuit of seven miles, and came 
out at Derr's mill. Colonel Kelly pursued this party; he had a dog 
that could follow an Indian trail, and, coming pretty close, would 
immediately drop. On this occurring, Colonel Kelly separated his 
party, and they made a circuit. As Kelly glided very quietly through 
the wood, he suddenly stepped into a hole, made by an up-rooted 
tree. Glancing along it, to his surprise, he saw five Indians sitting 
like turkeys on the trunk. He made a hole through the root, and 
leveled his rifle. Simultaneously there was the crack of rifles from 
the opposite side. Four Indians fell, and, notwithstanding their 
utmost exertions, the fifth escaped. This dog was of great service to 
the colonel. During this summer, most of the inhabitants of the 
Valley, or at least their families, had abandoned it. The men left 
usually occupied their homes, had signals of alarm, upon which they 
assembled at some point agreed upon. Colonel Kelly's cabin stood 
in front of the present building, near the spring, at the present road. 
He was awakened one night by the growls of this dog. He had a 
hole cut in the door for observation, and, as it was then getting day- 
light, he could see something moving among the bushes, at the end 
of an oak log, that laid across Spruce run. On closer inspection, he 
discovered an Indian. He took aim at a spot above the log, and, 
when the Indian raised his head, fired. The ball passed clear through 
his head, killing him instantly. He buried him himself in the little 
lot by the spring, marking the grave by a large stone, and kept the 
secret many years, not telling even his nearest neighbor or friend, 
knowing that there was no city of refuge to protect him from the ven- 
geance of the next of kin, an Indian law that proves our .common 
origin. No time or distance overcame it. There occurred one case 
in the Valley of the killing of an Indian, which was avenged many 
years after, when the settler had removed to Kentucky. The Indian 
was apprehended, and confessed that he had often sought the opportu- 
nity to kill the man here, but was as often foiled, and he followed him 
to Kentucky, and dogged him many years before it came. Colonel 



1779.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 173 

Kelly's secret only leaked out a few years before his death, in 1832. 
The little patch by the spring he preserved undisturbed, but took a 
notion about this time to have it cleared up. He had a boy, Isaac 
Bower, living with him at the time, to whom he promised a half 
dollar to plow it. He superintended it, and when Isaac proposed 
taking out a large stone with the grub hoe, he told him to let it 
alone, and plow around it. This aroused Isaac's curiosity, and the 
next time they had big meeting at Buffalo, and the colonel and all his 
family were gone, Isaac got to work with a shovel, and had not pro- 
ceeded far until he reached a huge skeleton. The skull was very 
large, and had the marks of the bullet in holes on the opposite sides. 
He carefully covered up the place, and hid the skull under the porch. 
Some days after old Doctor Vanvalzah came along, and stopped to 
talk with the colonel on the porch. Something was said about large 
heads, and Isaac, who became interested, hauled the skull out from 
under the porch, to show it to them. Doctor Vanvalzah was as- 
tonished at its size, and Colonel Kelly then asked Isaac where he got 
•it, and when he heard, became very angry, and would have whaled 
Isaac but for the doctor's presence. He then told the doctor the 
story as I have related it. 

ist November, 1872, I visited "William Allison, of Potter's Mills, 
Centre county, confined to his house by a paralytic stroke, (he died 
on nth February, 1877, aged eighty-five,) who told me that his 
father, Archibald Allison, was one of the party that had gone to 
bring the Samples off. He related the story substantially as I have 
given it, as related to me by Captain Jacob Gundy. He added 
some particulars : that after they got there, they heard the pecu- 
liar gobble of wild turkeys, and Gundy said he would go out and 
shoot one. Vandyke said: "You'll catch turkey, if you go out 
there." (Surmising a common trick of the Indians to imitate turkey 
calls ; two soldiers at Potter's Fort were enticed out in that way 
and killed.) That the man wounded through the thumb cried 
and howled so they had to threaten him to keep him quiet. That 
they drew the old chief inside the house and scalped him, and 
divided his accouterments. His father got the string of wampum, 
which was about the house for a long time. On leaving the house, 
the two wounded men, with the old people, were placed in the 
center. They had left the house about sixty rods in the rear, when 



I-J4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1779. 

the Indians sallied out from behind the barn, about thirty in num- 
ber, according to Mr. Allison's account. Gundy and party held a 
hurried consultation and agreed to separate, Gundy taking the 
left, with the old people, the rest of the party the right. Allison 
concealed one of the wounded men under a log, and the Indians 
crossed it without discovering him. In the race, Allison lost his 
moccasins, and when he arrived at the fort, (as the rendezvous was 
called, on John Lesher's place, formerly Billmyer's,) his feet were 
bleeding so that he could have been tracked by the blood. Archi- 
bald Allison was then only eighteen years of age. He was at John 
Lee's shortly after the massacre there, in 1782, and saw the bodies 
of the murdered, and was one of the party that pursued the Indians. 
He left the Valley in 1783 or 1784, and pushed on into Penn's 
valley, where he married a daughter of George McCormick, one of 
the first settlers near Spring Mills, where he remained, and died in 
1844, aged eighty-four years. William Kelly, son of Colonel John, 
married one of Archibald Allison's daughters. 

19th May, General Potter, from Penn's valley, writes that the 
greater number of the people of Buffalo Valley had left. 

26th May, Colonel Hunter writes that he had come poor speed 
raising the company of rangers, owing to the number of people that 
had got appointments to recruit for the boat service, (convoying 
General Sullivan's commissary up the North Branch;) that he had 
appointed Thomas Campleton captain ; that the few people remain- 
ing above were assembled in small bodies at the forts, and very 
little farming going on; that on the 25th, twelve large boats, loaded 
with provisions, left for Wyoming. 

June 7, General Sullivan writes from Easton that he has so great 
desire for the services of General Potter, and so high an opinion 
of him, that he will give him a command equal to his wishes if he 
will go along. 

June 2 1 , Lieutenant Colonel Adam Hubley, with part of his regi- 
ment, occupied Fort Muncy, Fort Jenkins, and Sunbury. 

26th, Colonel Hunter says Captain Campleton's company is at Bos- 
ley's mill, Chillisquaque creek, and the country was quite drained 
of men for the boat service. The few spirited men that remained 
were guarding the women and children at the different posts they 
were assembled at, while the army marches from Wyoming. He 



1779. J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 175 

had only thirty men, exclusive of those at Fort Freeland, and with 
General Potter, whom he would keep at Sunbury until the return of 
the army to Wyoming. Colonel Hartley's regiment marches imme- 
diately to join General Sullivan, which leaves Fort Muncy and Fort 
Jenkins vacant. 

June 24, Captain Samuel Brady killed Bald Eagle, a notorious 
warrior, of the Muncy tribe, near Kittanning. July 4, he, with John 
Montour, went out with two or three other Indians to capture 
Simon Girty. 9th, reports Simon at Conshocking. (Colonel Brod- 
head's letter.) 

July 8, Widow Smith's mills burned, and one man killed, in 
White Deer township. 

July 16, General Wayne captures Stony Point. 

July 17, Starrett's mill and all the principal houses in Muncy 
township burned. July 20, three men killed at Fort Freeland. 
21, General Sullivan at Wyoming. 

The depreciation of continental money was excessive at this time. 
Vattel's Law of Nations brought $400 ; one volume of Gibbon, $40. 
23 March, 1 779, a ream of paper, jQtS- George Read's Life, page, 
35°- 

Capture of Fort Freeland. 

July 26, William Maclay writes from Paxton (Harrisburg) that 
he had just returned from Sunbury. That the whole of the troops 
had moved from Sunbury, a week before, to join General Sullivan. 
"Northumberland county is in a deplorable situation, without a single 
man, except the mihtia of the county, and Captain Kamplen, with 
fourteen men. Almost every young man on the frontier engaged 
in the boat service. Everything above Muncy Hill is abandoned. 
Forty savages had penetrated as far as Freeland's mills. Freeland 
and sundry others had fallen victims. The stores at Sunbury are 
in my dwelling-house, which is large and conveniently situated for 
defense. The back part of it was stockaded last year, by Colonel 
Hartley." 

28th July, Colonel Hunter writes : "Thisday, about twelve o'clock, 

an express arrived from Captain Boone's mill, informing us that 

Freeland's fort was surrounded; and, immediately after, another 

, express came, informing us that it was burned, and all the garrison 



jj6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1779. 

either killed or taken prisoners ; the party that went from Boone's 
saw a number of Indians and some red-coats walking around the fort, 
or where it had been. After that, firing was heard off towards 
Chillisquaque. Parties are going off from this town, and from North • 
umberland, for the relief of the garrison. General Sullivan would 
send us no assistance, and our neighboring counties have lost the 
virtue they were once possessed of, otherwise we should have some 
relief before this. I write in a confused manner. I am just march- 
ing off, up the West Branch, with a party I have collected." A few 
days before the capture Robert Covenhoven went up as far as Rals- 
ton, (now,) where he discovered Colonel McDonald's party in camp. 
He returned to Fort Muncy, (Port Penn,) and gave the alarm. The 
women and children then were put in boats and sent down, under his 
charge, to Fort Augusta. He took with him the families at Fort 
Meminger, at the mouth of Warrior run ; but Freeland's fort being 
four and a half miles distant, they had no time to wait for the fam- 
ilies there, but sent a messenger to alarm them. Covenhoven (spelled 
Crownover,) is buried in the Presbyterian grave-yard, in Northum- 
berland. Born December 7, 1758; died October 29, 1846. 

Mrs. Mary V. Derrickson (born loth February, 1779,) a daughter 
of Cornelius Vincent, in a letter, dated Delaware run, December 17, 
1855, gives the following account of the early settlers, and of Fort 
Freeland : In 1772, Jacob Freeland, Samuel Gould, Peter Vincent, 
and his son Cornelius cut their way through the wilderness and set- 
tled within two miles of where the fort was afterwards built. In the 
summer of 1778, the year of the Great Runaway, they had to leave 
the country. They returned and picketed a large two-story house, 
which had been built by Jacob PVeeland. During the winter all 
the families lived in the fort. In the spring of 1 779 the men planted 
corn, and were occasionally surprised by the Indians ; but nothing 
serious occurred until the 21st of July, when a party at work in the 
corn-field were attacked by Indians, about nine a. m. Isaac Vincent, 
Elias Freeland, and Jacob Freeland, junior, were killed. Benjamin 
Vincent and Michael Freeland taken prisoners. Daniel Vincent out- 
ran the Indians, and leaping a high log fence, escaped. Benjamin 
Vincent, then only ten years old, hid himself in a furrow; he left it 
to climb a tree, and was seen and captured. He knew nothing about 
the fate of the others until in the afternoon, when an Indian thrust 



1779.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 777 

the bloody scalp of his brother Isaac into his face. At daybreak, on 
the 28th Jacob Freeland, senior, was shot as he was going out of the 
gate, and fell inside. The fort was surrounded. There were twenty- 
one men in it, and very little ammunition. Mary Kirk and Phoebe 
Vincent commenced immediately and ran all their spoons and plates 
into bullets. About nine a flag was raised, and John Lytle and 
John Vincent went out to capitulate, but could not agree, and one 
half hour was given to consult those within. It was finally agreed 
that all who could bear arms should go as prisoners, the old men 
with the women and children to be set free, and the fort given to 
plunder. The latter left the fort at twelve. Not one eat a bite that 
day, and not a child was heard to cry or ask for bread. They 
reached Northumberland, eighteen miles distant, that night. Mrs. 
Kirk put girl's clothes on her son William, a lad of sixteen, and he 
escaped with the women. Elizabeth Vincent was a cripple, and 
could not walk. Her husband, John Vincent, went to Captain Mc- 
Donald and told him her situation, and asked for the horse the 
Indians had taken from his son Peter a week before. He carried 
his wife to the lower end of the meadow, where they lay and saw the 
fort burned. It rained hard that night, and she lay partly in the 
water. In the morning the horse came to them. Vincent plaited a 
halter out of the bark of a hickory tree, set his wife on, and led it 
to Northumberland, where wagons were pressed to take the people 
down the country. Colonel Hunter's account says: "That the 
firing at Freeland's was heard at Boone's mill, about seven miles off. 
(This mill was on Muddy Run, six hundred yards from its mouth, 
the site of what is now Kemmerer's Mill, two miles above Milton.) 
Captains Hawkins Boone, Kemplen, and Daugherty marched with 
thirty-four men, but were met before they reached the fort. Cap- 
tain Kemplen, who observed the first Indian, shot him dead. Our 
men behaved with great bravery, but were overpowered, and fifteen 
were killed and two wounded. Among the dead. Captain Boone 
and Captain Samuel Daugherty, two very good men." 

This engagement took place at McClung's place, above Milton. 
William Miles, who was taken prisoner at the fort, and afterwards 
resided in Erie county, said that, in Canada, Captain McDonald 
spoke in the highest terms of the desperate bravery of Hawkins 

12 



lyS ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1779. 

Boone. His scalp, with that of Daugherty, was brought into fort 
Freeland. 

Boone came originally from Exeter, Berks county, and was a 
cousin of the celebrated Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. His grand- 
father, George Boone, had a large family of sons : William, Joseph, 
Tames, Benjamin, John, Hezekiah, Squire, and Josiah Boone. 
Hawkins was a son of Squire, who moved to North Carolina in 
1752. Hawkins was a surveyor, and lived on the place just above 
New Columbia now owned by Samuel Gemberling. He owned, 
also, the Jacob Rees' place, north-west of the latter place, the 
Earnest Book tract, &c. He was commissioned a captain in the 
twelfth Pennsylvania regiment, and selected to accompany a detach- , 
ment of riflemen from the regiment, sent under Morgan to Saratoga. 
In a return of Morgan's command, dated at Lowdon's ferry, on the 
Mohawk, September 3, 1777, he is marked absent; wounded. In 
February, 1779, the State Council allowed him clothes out of the 
State stores, "in consideration of his situation and spirited intre- 
pidity of his conduct in the campaign under Colonel Hartley, when 
his situation might have justified him in remaining at home." He 
left a widow, Jane, and two daughters. Some years after his death, 
his widow married a Mr. Fortenbaugh, and moved to Halifax, Dau- 
phin county, where she resided many years. 

Of Boone's party, Samuel Brady, (uncle of Captain Samuel,) James 
Dougherty, and James Hammond made their escape. Daniel Vin- 
cent, father of late Mr. Vincent, of McEwensville, had been recently 
married, and after the capture, his wife returned to New Jersey. For 
four years she heard nothing -of him. One evening, when she was 
out with a sleighing party, a roughly dressed man Stopped at the 
tavern where they were, and inquired if a Mrs. Vincent lived near 
there. She was pointed out to him, and he told her he had met 
her husband in Canada. He rode home in the same sleigh, and was 
disposed to take her upon his lap. She declined the favor until she 
discovered the impertinent stranger was her husband. — Day's Col- 
lections, 1843. [See Meginness' West Branch Valley, page 25 7, &c., 
for an interesting notice of the return of the captives.] 

In a letter from Sunbury, dated January 27, 1783, to General 
James Potter, member of the Executive Council, Colonel Hunter 



1779. J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ijg 

incloses a roll of the men taken prisoners at Fort Freeland, the 
28th July, 1779. "Captain's company, John Neely, sergeant; 
George Bailey, George Armitage, Aaron Martin, (died at Fort 
Chambly, January 8, 1780,) Thomas Smith, Isaac Wilson, and 
John Forney. The following persons, being those of the militia 
that enrolled themselves for the defense of the garrison : John Lytle, 
adjutant ; Cornelius Vincent, quartermaster ; sergeant, Samuel 
Gould ; Henry Townley, Peter Williams, Isaac Williams, Elias Wil- 
liams, Henry Gilfillan, James Durham, Daniel Vincent, John Watts, 
William Miles, John Dough, Thomas Taggar<-, (died i6th January, 
1780;) Francis Watts, made his escape on the same day he was 
taken; Peter Vincent, likewise made his escape the same day." 
Colonel Hunter adds : "I appointed Captain Thomas Kemplen to 
recruit a company under a resolve of Congress authorizing the 
Council to raise a company for each frontier county, and to ap- 
point the officers thereof, in place of Captain John McElhatten, 
who was not in the county, or expected soon. Kemplen engaged 
on the 7th of May, and was of as much service as any man could 
be with the small company of men he had during the time. A 
number of his men who were taken prisoners at Fort Freeland, have 
come home poor and naked." 

Colonel Kelly went over with a party from Buffalo Valley, and 
buried the dead at Fort Freeland. 

November 27, the German regiment arrived at Sunbury, and 
Colonel Hunter proposes to station a sergeant's guard at Titzell's 
mill, in Buffalo Valley. Among the deaths this year are Samuel 
Allen, of White Deer, in May. In July, William McLaughlin, of the 
same township. Samuel Allen left a widow, Lavinia ; children, 
Ruth Reynolds, Agnes, Mary Rippey, Elphina, Samuel, Joseph, 
James, John, and Robert. 

Joseph Weeks, (of now Gregg township,) left a widow, Rachel; 
children, Jesse, Hannah, Frances, Jemima, Sutherland, Hyllothem, 
Nacum, and Fronk. 

John Foster, Esquire, who died at Buffalo Cross-Roads some years 
since, and who was a son of Captain John Foster, was wont to relate 
an incident occurring at this time. One night the family were 
alarmed by Indians, and fled to a rye patch adjoining the house, 
where they passed the night. A small dog that was usually very 



i8o ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. | 1780, 

noisy at night stayed with them and made no noise. The family 
always considered it a special act of Providence, as the next morn- 
ing plenty of Indian tracks were found around the house. 



1^80. 




Inhabitants of Buffalo, White Deer, and Penn's — Indian Troubles — 
David Couples Killed — Attack at French Jacob's Mill — George 
Etzweiler and others Killed — Roll of Captain Thompson's Com- 
pany — Patrick Watson and Baltzer Klinesmith Killed — Peter 
Grove's Pursuit of the Indians — Barber's Mill Built. 

OUNCILLOR, General James Potter. Representatives 
in the Assembly, William Montgomery, David Mc- 
Kinney, and Major John Kelly. Prothonotary, Cap- 
tain Matthew Smith, appointed February 4. County 

Commissioners, Daniel Montgomery, Williarn Clark, and John 

White. Collector of Excise, Daniel Montgomery. 

Names of the Inhabitants of Buffalo Township, in the beginning of 

April, 1780. 

Allison, Archibald; Auld, George; Aurand, Henry; Aurand, 
Jacob; Baker, Wendel; Beatty, Hugh; Beatty, Alexander; Bernhard, 
Mathias ; Bickle, Henry ; Bickle, Christopher ; Bilby, John ; Black, 
Thomas; Brady, Mary; Braton, Caldwell; Brindle, John; Bolen- 
der, Henry ; Book, Conrad ; Book, John ; Book, George ; Boveard, 
James ; Bower, Casper ; Burn, Peter ; Burger, Martin ; Chambers, 
Robert; Charters, William; Clarke, John ; Crawford, Edward ; Cri- 
der, John ; Conner, Jacob ; Coon, Nicholas ; Cox, Tunis ; Cox, 
Widow; Davis, John; Derr, Ludwig ; Doudrick, John; Dreisbach, 
Jacob; Duncan, David; Elder, Thomas; Emerick, David; Etzweiler, 
George ; Ewig, Adam ; Eyer, Abraham ; Fiddler, Stephen ; Filey, 
John; Fleming, Robert; Fleming, James; Frederick, Peter; Fred- 



1780.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. i8i 

erick, George \ Foster, John ; ]<'oster, William ; Foster, Captain 
John; Gibson, Andrew; Gibson, James'; Gilman, Henry, senior; 
Gilman, Henry, junior; Glen, Andrew; Green, Joseph; Greenlee, 
William ; Groshong, Jacob, grist-mill ; Grove, Michael ; he was 
taxed with a ferry, which was at the old Judge McPherson place, 
near Winfield ; Gothard, John ; Hains, George ; Hains, George, 
junior; Hains, John; Huntsman, James; Hamilton, Robert; Harb- 
ster, David; Harbster, Jacob; Hiltman, John; Henry, Christopher, 
distillery; Hessler, John; Hessler, Michael; Holnian, Charles; 
Hone, Henry; Hoy, Philip; Hub, Daniel; Hunter, Samuel; taxed 
with servants, negro, horses, cows, spoons, &c.; he resided on 
Perm's creek, on the tract he took up, now owned by the Messrs. 
Oldts, in Union township; Irvine, William, (Irish;) Irwin, James, 
distillery; Jenkins, James; Jermony, Thomas; Johnston, William; 
Johnston, John ; Kester, Peter ; King, Samuel ; Kishler, Francis ; 
Klinesmith, Baltzer ; Links, Jacob ; Laughlin, Samuel ; Lee, John, 
two stills; Leech, William; Leonard, Peter; Lewis, Daniel; Low- 
don, John; McCaley, Alexander; McCandlish, William, senior; 
McCandlish, William, junior ; McClung, John ; McCoy, James ; 
McDonald, Randall ; McGee, James ; McGrady, Alexander ; Mc- 
Kelvey, James; Metzgar, Jacob; Miller, Benjamin; Milligan, John • 
Mitchell, John ; Mizener, Henry ; Mizener, Conrad ; Mook, John ; 
Moore, William, sawmill; Morrow, Andrew; Nees, John, grist mill; 
afterwards Green's and Bellas' ; Noble, Robert ; Overmeier, George, 
senior; Overmeier, George, junior; Parkinson, Daniel; Price, Thom- 
as; Pontius, Andrew; Pontius, John, senior; Pontius, John, junior; 
Pontius, Nicholas; Pontius, George; Pontius, Henry; Quinn, 
Terrence ; Ray, John ; Rees, Abel ; Richard, Henry ; Rinehard, 
Frederick; Rinehart, George; Rosabaugh, George; Rote, George; 
Scott, John ; Sharp, Daniel ; Shirley, Charles ; Shively, John ; 
Shively, Christian ; Sierer, John ; Sips, Joseph ; Shaw, William ; 
Slack, Henry; Smith, Adam; Smith, Ludwig ; Smith, David; 
Snyder, Peter ; Snyder, Michael ; Speddy, Wil\iam ; Storms, Chris- 
tian ; Storms, David ; Stroh, Nicholas ; Sutherland, William ; Tate, 
Edward; Taveler, Joseph; Templeton, Samuel; Thom, James; 
Thornburg, Thomas; Thompson, John; Trester, Martin, senior; 
Trester, Martin, junior ; Trinkle, Charles ; Vandyke, Henry, tan- 
yard; Vought, Michael; Walker, John; Watson, Hugh; Watson, 



j82 annals of buffalo valley. 1780. 

Patrick; Watson, David; Welker, Leonard, grist and saw-mill; 
Weyland, Henry; Williams, William; Williams, James; Wilson, 
Robert ; Wise, Jacob ; Wise, Frederick ; Wolfe, Andrew ; Wolfe, 
George; Young, Samuel, distillery; Young, Matthew; Zeller, 
Peter. 

Of these the following returned money for taxation only : Bickle, 
Christopher, ;^ioo ; Chambers, Robert, jP^fio ; Frederick, George, 
^500 ; Green, Joseph, ^x\o ; McCandlish, William, j[^Ap ; Storms, 
Christian, ;^45o. 

Additional Residents or Taxable s of White Deer in 1780. 

Allen, Joseph; Allen, John; Auman, Philip; Barber, John; 
Caldwell, John ; Campbell, Charles : Cherry, John ; Clendenin, 
John; Collins, Daniel; Couples, Sarah, widow; Crawford, Robert; 
Daraugh, Ephraim; Derr, Widow; Eakins, John; Heckle, Andrew, 
distillery; Gibson, James; Glen, Joseph; Gray, Robert; Hammel, 
Charles ; Hayes, David ; Hill, Elizabeth ; Hill, Jacob ; Hoffman, 
Joseph ; Huling, Marcus, of the Island ; Hood, Moses ; Huston, 
Samuel; Iddings, Jonathan; Kelly, Lawrence ; King, William; 
Love, Robert; McClenachan, William; McCracken, John; Mc- 
Cord, Robert; McCord, James; McGowan, John ; McKinney, 
James ; McLaughlin, John ; Marshall, William ; Miller, Archibald ; 
Millwright, Mathias ; Montgomery, Samuel ; Murray, William ; 
Poak, John ; Randels, Joseph ; Randels, Hugh ; Row, James ; 
Shields, Widow; Shearer, Widow; Turner, Thomas, distillery; 
Swartz, Peter, junior; Tanahill, John; Vandyke, Lambert. Im- 
provements, saw-mill at William Blythe's, Red Bank run. 

Among the Residents of Fenn's Township in 1780. 

Barnard, France; Bart, Jacob ; Bartges, Stophel ; Beard, Wil- 
liam ; Berts, Benjamin ; Bickard, John ; Bickle, Thomas ; Bickle, 
Simon, distillery ; Bickle, Tobias, distillery ; Bickle, Jacob ; Borald, 
Adam ; Bolender, Adam, senior ; Bolender, Adam, junior ; Bom- 
baugh, widow, still ; Borer, Peter ; Bower, Peter ; Bunker, Abra- 
ham ; Carstetter, Martin ; Cline, Jacob ; Cline, Andrew ; Coleman, 
John ; Collins, Moses ; Copenberger, Paul ; Crow, Godfrey ; Dean- 
er, George ; Deininger, Jacob ; Dowdle, widow, (widow of Cap- 
tain Dowdle;) Dreese, Joseph; Eberhart, Bernard; Egeh, William ; 



1780.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 183 

Evans, John ; Faucy, Benjamin ; Fisher, Abraham ; Freyburg, Lud- 
wig; Gan, Frederick; Gaws, Christian; Ginney, (weaver;) Gray- 
bill, Christian ; Green, John ; Graybill, John ; Guyer, Valentine ; 
Hains, John ; Harman, John ; Heffling, Jacob ; Heffling, Conrad ; 
Hermon, Henry; Hoan, Michael, senior; Hornberger, Charles; 
Hooks, Stephen; Horn, Samuel; Kemerer, Peter; Kemerer, Dan- 
iel ; Kerstetter, Leonard ; Kerstetter, widow ; Kerel, Hugh ; Ket- 
tleman, David ; Kreek, Philip ; Kreek, Jacob ; Koch, Daniel ; La- 
bel, Jacob; Leist, David; Liber, Adam; McTaget, Billy; Man- 
ning, John; Manning, Richard; Mateer, Robert; Meikle, Simeon; 
Mattig, Daniel ; Merkley, George ; Motz, Michael ; Meyer, John ; 
Meyer, Charles, distillery; Mogel, Valentine; Moon, Thomas; 
Moon, James ; Moore, Andrew, four hundred and seventy-nine acres 
of land, oil-mill, two distilleries, one grist and one saw-mill ; Morton, 
Jacob ; Mull, Anthony ; Neyman, Jacob ; Newcomer, Peter ; Nitz, 
Philip ; Nitz, John ; Ogden, Joseph ; Oudly, Edward ; Peters, Michael ; 
Reybert, John, senior; Reger, Elias; Reger, Michael; Reichenbaugh, 
Jacob ; Reed, Casper, saw-mill ; Reihm, Henry ; Retzel, Youst ; 
Reit, John ; Ritchie, Robert ; Rodgers, John ; Roush, Jacob ; Row, 
Martin, junior ; Row, Ludwig ; Ryhart, John ; Schock, George ; 
Schock, John ; Shaffer, George ; Sharrer, Michael ; Shoemaker, Pe- 
ter ; Smith, Stephen ; Snyder, Thomas ; Stees, Jacob, grist and saw- 
mill ; Steffy, Adam ; Straub, John ; Styer, Henry ; Styers, Jacob ; 
Sutton, Zachariah ; Swineford, John; Swineford, Albright, six hun- 
dred and eighty acres, and grist-mill ; Tremgel, Peter ; Trenkle, 
Matthias; Truckenmiller, Frederick; Ulrich, George, junior ; Wood- 
waifd, Simon ; Zellner, John. 

2d April, William Maclay writes to President Reed, from Sunbury : 
" Sir : I will not trouble you with the distress of this county. It 
will, no doubt, be painted to the Council in lively colors, and, in- 
deed, the picture cannot be overcharged ; nor should I, at this time, 
write to you, but for a strong belief and persuasion that a body of 
Indians are lodged about the head of Fishing and Muncy creek. 
They were with us to the very beginning of the deep snow last year ; 
they are with us now before that snow is cuite gone. Many of our 
hunters, who went up late last fall into that country, (which is a fine 
one for hunting,) were so alarmed with the constant reports of guns, 
which they could not believe to be those of white men, that they 



i84 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1780. 

returned suddenly back. We are not strong enough to spare men 
to examine this country, and dislodge them. The German regiment 
are under their own officers, and, for my part, I expect no service 
from them. I cannot help uttering a wish that what troops we have 
might be all Pennsylvanians. There is a certain love of country that 
really has weight. This is a strange divided quarter. Whig, Tory, 
Yankee, Pennamite, Dutch, Irish, and English influence are strangely 
blended. I must confess I begin to be national, too, and most sin- 
cerely believe every public interest of America will be safer in the 
hands of Americans than with any others. Eut I will not trouble 
you with any more of my opinions. Help us if you can, and much 
obhge a distressed country." 

Colonel Samuel Hunter writes, on the same day : "The savages 
have made their appearance on the frontiers in a hostile manner. 
Day before yesterday they took seven or eight prisoners about two 
miles above Fort Jenkins, and two days before they carried off 
several people from about Wyoming. The German regiment that is 
stationed here is no ways adequate to grant us the necessary relief. 
The case is quite altered from this time twelve months ago. We then 
had a pretty good garrison at Muncy, Brady's fort, Freeland's, with 
our own inhabitants. Now we have but forty or fifty at Montgom- 
ery's, and thirty at Fort Jenkins. The latter was not able to spare 
men enough to pursue the enemy, that carried off the prisoners, 
though there were but thirty Tories and Indians, and a pretty deep 
snow had fallen the night before, by which they could be tracked. 
I have seen the time within three years that we could turn out some 
hundred of good woodsmen, but the country is quite drained of^our 
best men." 

The rapid depreciation of money may be noted through an item 
in the State Treasurer's account : May 17, order to Samuel Dale, ad- 
ditional pay as Member, in consequence of the price of wheat raised 
from ^15 to ^20 per bushel, nth March, cassimere was ^300 
per yard ; jean and habit cloth, ^60 per yard. 

April 8, a party of Indians made a descent on White Deer creek. 
At Redbank, one and one-half miles south of White Deer Mills, a 
little below where Charley Ely's blacksmith shop used to be, toward 
the river, lived David Couples, with his wife and two children. They 
killed and scalped Couples and two of the children, and took his wife 



1780.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. i^5 



prisoner. They camped for the night on the hills above the mills, 
where she made her escape, although one of them had lain himself 
down upon her clothes, so that her moving would alarm him. The 
next day, when the people came to the house, they found the chil- 
dren had crawled under the bed, but their eyes were rent with in- 
tensity of suffering. One daughter survived, Margaret Couples. 
She married a man named William Armstrong, a wagoner on Doctor 
Eaker's place, and they moved to Centre county. The widow mar- 
ried a man named Elliot, of Chillisquaque. Some of the family 
live about Northumberland. Captain John M. Huff, of Milton, is 
a grandson. 

In Doctor Harbaugh's Fathers of the German Reformed Church, 
we find the following notice of the first stated Reformed minister 
nearest to the region of our annals: As early as the i8th of May, 
the Reverend Samuel Dubbendorff labored as a minister at Lykens 
valley. A letter of that date says : ' ' like John the Baptist, he at present 
preaches to three congregations, bordering upon the Indians. The 
people greatly love and honor him, yet owing to their poverty, can 
give him only the most necessary articles of food, but not a cent of 
money as salary." Mr. Dubbendorff, no doubt, preached as a sup- 
ply for the churches on Penn's creek, and, perhaps, in Buffalo Valley, 
as we find that when he beame too feeble, from age, to labor any 
longer in the ministry, he removed to a friend's, near Selinsgrove, 
where he died. He is buried in Selinsgrove, but no memorial, we 
believe, marks his grave. 

Attack on French Jacob's Mill. 

Northumberland Town, May i8, 1780. 
I am unhappy enough to mform you the savage enemy have, on 
the 1 6th inst., made a stroke on the inhabitants of this much dis- 
tressed county, at Buffalo Valley. At French Jacob Grozong's 

mills four men killed, viz: Jno. Forster, jr., Eytzwiller, 

James Chambers, and Samuel McLaughlen. The enemy got only 
one of the scalps. The neighboring inhabitants, on hearing the 
firing, briskly turned out, and pursued the enemy very brave, but 
was not able to overtake them. The inhabitants have stood here, 
indeed, longer than could been expected, were it not desperation. 
But, sir, unless some support can be instantly afforded, the State 



j86 annals of buffalo valley. [1780. 

must shortly count one county less than formerly — which God 
forbid. I refer you, D'r sir, to the bearer, Gen. Potter, for further 
information, as he waits on horseback, whilst I write this imperfect, 
distress'd acc't. Provisions none, cash none, nor can it be had 
in this place. Gen. Potter's acc'ts from this place to the Hon'ble 
the Assembly, which I doubt not you will see, will fully satisfy you 
of the state of this place. 

I am, D'r sir, your most obt. humble serv't, 

Matthew Smith. 

Gen. Jos. Reed. 

Sometime between 1776 and 1779, Jacob Groshong, familiarly 
known as French Jacob, built a little log mill, the site of which is 
now familiarly known as Solomon Heberling's, on what he supposed 
was his own location. He was defeated in a suit at Sunbury, rode 
home the same night, dismantled the mill, moved the wheels, &c., 
down to the site of what is now Dater & Reish's mill. Here he 
re-built his mill in 1782 and 1783, and added a saw-mill in 1785. 
In 1793, Enoch Thomas got the property, and Groshong moved up 
to the end of the Nittany mountain, in Centre county, and thence 
West. From Thomas, it passed into the hands of Christopher 
Johnson, in 1797, and into the hands of John Hofferd, in 1808, 
and finally into the Reish's. 

The old mill building, where this fight occurred, Mr. Philip Pon- 
tius told me he took down when he owned the property, and that he 
carefully preserved the timbers that had the bullet marks in them, 
and placed them in another building there, where they could still 
be seen. 

This will explain the impression on the minds of some old peo- 
ple I have talked with, who alleged the site of French Jacob's mill, 
where the fight occurred, was at the old Hofferd or Reish mill ; 
whereas, in truth, it occurred at the little old mill, the site of which 
is on Solomon Heberling's place. 

Groshong's name, or rather his nick-name, is still preserved in 
connection with the large spring a little above the tavern, on the 
Brush Valley road. I find in 1787 he was assessed by his nick- 
name, "Jacob, French." He is the hero of all the wild tales of 
Indian troubles in that part of the Valley. The place where he hid 
from the Indians, beside this spring, is still pointed out. 



1780.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 187 

The place became more noted in after years as the residence of 
Captain John Bergstresser, who, as early as 181 1, had an oil, full- 
ing-mill, saw-mill, and kept store upon the premises. Bergstresser 
came in after Henry Snyder, who had some sort of mills there as 
early as 1802. 

Christian Shively told my informant, John Beeber, that he heard 
the signal firing at this time. He was threshing some grain at the 
time. He had a hard, smooth place tramped on the ground, and 
was throwing the wheat up in the air to allow the wind to blow the 
chaff away. He immediately hid his wife and two children near 
the mouth of White Spring run. He slipped silently about, rolled 
some logs into Penn's creek, tied them with hickory withes into a 
raft, put his wife and children on, and floated down to Beatty's, 
where New Berlin now stands. 

Philip Pontius told me his father also heard the signal. He un- 
hitched his horses, and made a circuit through the woods, gun in 
hand, and came to the mill. He said William Fisher made a nar- 
row escape. He was running into the mill, when his foot slipped 
on a board, and he fell into the door. The bullet intended for him 
struck the building on a line where his head would have been had he 
not fallen. 

One tradition of the neighborhood is that this was a patrol of 
five men which passed every day between Titzell's, late Kelly's, mill 
and French Jacob's, and they were attacked by the Indians in sight 
of the mills. Another has it that the soldiers were out washing 
when they were fired on. 

John Forster was an uncle of the late Captain John Forster, of 
Mifflinburg, and a brother of the old Major Thomas Forster. James 
Chambers was the son of Robert Chambers. 

George Etzweiler, junior, left a widow named Mary. George 
Etzweiler, a son of the one killed, kept hotel at McKee's Half-Falls, 
as late as 181 2. William Fisher was the grandfather of James 
Crossgrove and Sheriff John Crossgrove, and resided in Limestone, 
where James Crossgrove lately resided. William Gill told me he 
heard old Mrs. Overmeier say that the people who were killed, 
were brought over to the place adjoining Philip Seebold's residence, 
above New Berlin, and were buried in the old grave-yard on the 
bluff at the creek, where Dry run comes in, nearly opposite where 



i88 ANNALU OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1780. 

Tuscarora run enters Penn's, on the Snyder county side.^ Here old 
John Trester and the first settlers were buried. This grave-yard, 
probably the oldest in the county, was not used after 1791, when 
the people commenced burying in New Berlin. It belonged to 
Thomas Barber, who was killed in 1792, by the timbers of an old 
barn falling upon him. Some time during this year, one of the 
Mizener's, who resided where Daniel Pontius now resides, near 
Reish's distillery, was captured, and carried off from that place by the 
Indians. Esquire Sheckler informs me it was Adam Mizener, who 
moved to Ohio, and died there some years ago. He remained in 
captivity about eighteen months. 

On the 14th of July, the Archives state that a man and three 
children were killed, near the mouth of Buffalo creek. According 
to the statement of Wjlliam Wilson, (Doctor T. H's. grandfather,) 
this occurred at the old house where Thomas Ream now lives. The 
woman escaped across the creek and, looking back, saw an Indian 
dash the brains out of the small child against a tree. The name of 
the family was Allen. 

Copy of Roll found antotig Colonel John Kelly s papers . 

A pay-roll of my company of the first battalion, Northumberland 
county militia, commencmg i6th of July, 1780. Enrolled, July 16, 
1780. Discharged, August 15. 

Colonel — Kelly, John. 

Captain — Thompson, James. 

Lieutenant — Poak, Joseph. 

Ensign. — Ewing, Alexander. 

Black, William ; Black, Thomas ; Brindage, Joseph ; Fleming, 
Hance; Green, Joseph; Hamersley, James; Iddings, Jonathan; 
Poak, John; Poak, Thomas; Poak, James Smith; Rodman, Hugh ; 
Wilson, Peter ; Wilson, John ; Young, John. 

Letters of administration on Patrick Watson's estate, were granted 
on the 23d of July, of this year; and his death, perhaps, occurred 
during May, when the stroke on the Valley, spoken of in Captain 
Matthew Smith's letter, was made. His cabin was on a slight eleva- 
tion, a little east of the new school-house (1877) at White Springs, 

'Philip Seebold said, in 1872, that George Etzweiler was buried on John Cook's 
place, now Peter Slear's, in Limestone township. 



1780.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. iSg 

Limestone township. Tlie site was pointed out to me, by Jacob 
M. Shively, whose grandfather, Christian Shively, showed him the 
spot, and told the story. He said he heard the firing, and went to 
Watson's cabin, and found Mrs. Watson, Patrick's mother, lying 
on the floor, shot, and a dog licking her scalped head. She could 
orily make motions in reply to his inquiry, intimating that Patrick 
had gone down the run. He went out after him, and found him 
near the White spring. Watson did not know he was shot until, 
stooping down by the spring to drink, the water ran out of his 
wound. He died within two hours. He and his mother were 
among the first buried in the Lewis grave-yard. He was an uncle 
of David, William, and John C. Watson. 

Friday, 14th July, Baltzer Klinesmith, who resided then on George 
Sholtz's land, lately owned by John Byler, on the second road south 
of Dreisbach's church leading to Jenkins' mills, and had a small 
clearing upon it, was killed. The versions of this story are quite 
numerous. The one in the "History of the West Branch," was 
furnished by George A. Snyder, Esquire, deceased. The dates I 
get from the widow's pension papers, and an old certificate, in which 
it is further stated that he was a private in Captain Joseph Green's 
company. Lieutenant John Cryder, in Colonel Kelly's battalion. 
My version is from one who often heard Mrs. Chambers tell it her- 
self. She, with her father and sister, went out in the field to work. 
He, seeing some squirrels, sent Baltzer, junior, back for his gun. 
Meanwhile, the Indians came along and captured the old man and 
the two girls, Elizabeth and Catherine. 

Just where the road winds around the hill, above Heimbach's 
blacksmith shop, on the road to New Berlin, they killed Klinesmith. 
Mrs. Dreisbach, the Judge's mother, pointed out the place. She 
helped carry his body down, and they buried it in the Dreisbach 
church-yard. 

The Lidians then made their way to the spring, north of New 
Berlin, where they left the girls in charge of an old man of their 
party, and went down Dry valley. After a httle while it began to 
rain, and the Indian motioned the girls to gather brush to cover the 
flour bag. He laid down under a tree, with the tomahawk under 
his head. The girls, in passing with brush, worked it gradually 
from under him as he dozed. Elizabeth picked up the tomahawk. 



i<)0 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1780. 

and made a motion to her sister to run. She then sank it into the 
old man's head. The old man yelled fearfully, and the girls ran. 
By this time the Indians were on their return, and heard the old 
man yell. They pursued the girls and fired on Catherine, just as 
she was springing over a fallen tree. The ball entered below the 
right shoulder-blade and came out at her side. She had the scars 
until her dying day, as large as a half dollar. She rolled herself 
under the tree, and the Indians passed over her, in pursuit of the 
sister. Elizabeth, being active, reached Beatty's harvest field. The 
men ran to their rifles and pursued the Indians. When they came 
pretty near Catherine, one of the men, supposing an Indian in am- 
bush, was about firing, when she pulled off her apron and waved it. 
They found her much weakened from loss of blood, but she soon 
recovered. Philip Pontius, still living, told me that the Indians 
were going to Beatty's, and George Rote, who was a lame man, but 
great on a halloo, frightened them back, by hallooing to an imagin- 
ary company to surround the black rebels. Klinesmith's widow 
drew a pension as late as 1 819, at New Berlin. " Elizabeth married 
John Boal, moved to French creek, near Meadville first, and, in 1843, 
was still living in Ohio or Indiana, her husband, being one of those 
restless spirits, who fancy that the land is over-crowded, when the 
population exceeds one to every ten square miles, and she, from her 
courage and energy, being an excellent second to a man always ex- 
posed to the perils of frontier life." — Manuscript of G. H. Snyder. 
Katy, as she was called, first married Daniel Campbell, a revolu- 
tionary soldier, and had, by him, two children, John, who died 
near Mifflinburg, and Ann, who married Robert Barber. They 
removed West, and are now both dead. Katy married next Robert 
Chambers, by whom she had one child, the first wife of John A. 
Vanvalzah, deceased. Notwithstanding her wound, she survived 
two husbands. My informant, William M. Vanvalzah, tells me that 
when a boy, many a night he heard her and old Captain Thompson 
talk over the events of their early life. Klinesmith's land, in Lewis 
township, was valued in 1810, Robert Chambers taking one portion, 
and Baltzer Klinesmith, junior, the other. Baltzer, junior, sold his 
land, some thirty years since, to Christian Mensch, and moved to a 
lot owned by his wife, near Hartleton, where he died, and is buried 
in the Laurelton grave-yard. His wife was a daughter of Melchior 



1780] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. igi 

Smith, their children, David, Samuel, John Melchior, daughters Mary 
Ann and Margaret, who married Messrs. Stover, in Centre county. 

Catherine married Miller. Martin Trester, a few years after, 

found a rifle near the spring, supposed to belong to the old Indian. 

Traditions of the Valley have always connected the following 
incident with the pursuit of the murderers of Klinesmith ; and the 
date mentioned in the note below probably confirms that belief: 

Van Campen, in his narrative, see Meginness, page 277, says that 
"in the summer of 1781^ a man was taken prisoner, in Buffalo 
Valley, and made his escape. He reported there were about three 
hundred Indians on the Sinnemahoning. I was then a lieutenant 
in Captain Robinson's company. Colonel Hunter selected a com- 
pany of five to reconnoitre. Captain Campbell, Peter and Michael 
Grove, Lieutenant Cramer, and myself. We took with us three 
days' provision, and went up the' West Branch, with much caution 
and care. We reached the Sinnemahoning, but found no tracks. 
A little below it we discovered a smoke, and that there was a large 
party of them. 

" As soon as it was dark we new primed our rifles, sharpened our 
flints, and examined our tomahawk handles ; and, all being ready, we 
waited with great impatience until they all lay down. The night was 
warm, and as we advanced upon them in the utmost silence, rifle in 
one hand, tomahawk in the other, we found some of them rolled in 
their blankets, a rod or two from the fire. Having got among them, 
we first handled our tomahawks. They arose like a dark cloud. 
We now fired on them and raised the war-yell. They took to t ight 
in the utmost confusion; We remained masters of the ground and 
of all their plunder. It was a party of twenty-five or thirty, which 
had been down as low as Penn's creek, and had killed and scalped 
two or three families. We found several scalps of different ages, 
and a large quantity of domestic cloth, which we took to Northum- 
berland, and distributed among the distressed who had escaped the 
tomahawk." 

1 Van Campen made a mistake in the year, no doubt, and his description would 
lead one to believe more than two Indians were killed. Grove speaks only of two, 
and the following item, in the State Treasurer's account, September SO, 1780, indi- 
cates that Grove was correct ; Oash paid Robert Martin, for Jacob Oreamer, Peter 
Grove, William Campbell, and Michael Grove, for two Indian scalps, £1,875. The 
same account September 29, ten head of cattle for the (Jommissioners of Purchases, 
jei0,400, shows the immense depreciation of currency at this time. 



ig2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1780. 

There were four of the Grove brothers, Wendell, Adam, who lived 
where George Wolfe now lives, in Mortonsville, Michael, who lived 
on the back road to Mifflinburg, and Peter. Peter disappears very- 
early from our Valley. The only notices I can find of him are the 
mixture of truth and fiction, in the Appendix to Meginness' History. 
Michael lived within the recollection of many of my readers. He 
died in Nippenose, south of Jersey Shore, in September, 1827, aged 
seventy, and was brought home, and buried in the Dreisbach grave- 
yard. Meginness says he was attended by Doctor Davidson in his 
last illness, and gave a vivid account of the engagement above spoken 
of. Before they commenced the attack, an old Indian annoyed them 
very much. He was troubled with a severe cough, and frequently 
rose up, and looked carefully around, seeming to anticipate danger. 
At length the old man fell asleep, and they commenced creeping up, 
intending to use their tomahawks first. One of them, unexpectedly, 
crawled over an Indian, who lay some distance from the rest, and 
the old man rose up at this moment. Michael, with a powerful blow 
with his hatchet, clove the old man's skull, and, striking it into the 
back of another, could not withdraw it, when the Indian drew him 
over the bank into the creek, where, however, he succeeded in kill- 
ing him. Some of the Indians got on to the other side of the creek, 
and commenced firing, and they had to retire. They waded down 
the creek, taking to the hills, and, thence over to the Bald Eagle 
ridge. John Beeber describes Michael as having an eye like a hawk, 
and being able to travel at night, even in his old age, nearly as well as 
in day time. He told Beeber that Joseph Groninger, of White Deer, 
was along, and going up, they stopped at James Ellis', uncle of Wil- 
liam Cox Ellis, and took their dinner with their rifles on their knees. 

Michael left three children, John, Sarah, married to Samuel Lutz, 

and to Jacob Srnith. To the two girls he gave farms in 

Nippenose, and he was there visiting when he died. His son John 
is now dead. He left a son, Michael, and daughter, Esther. Mich- 
ael also died on the old farm, where his grandfather lived. Esther 
married Enoch Kauffman. Michael's son, Peter, still lives in West 
Buffalo, and other descendants are in the same township. 

Adam lived on the Nesbit property, which he sold to Thomas 
Nesbit, in 1822. His son, Samuel, married a sister of the late Joseph 
Glass, and is the father of Simon, Joseph, William, Mrs. Jacob Parks, 



1781.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 193 



and Wesley, (who was starved to death in one of the rebel prisons.) 
Samuel moved West, where his family has become wealthy, and in- 
fluential at the bar and other pursuits. 

In July, George Row, of Penn's township, was wounded in the 
breast, at Fought's mill, (near Mifflinburg,) and died in eight 
hours. He left a widow, Mary M., who drew a pension for many 
years afterward. 

The original Barber's mill, on Penn's creek, was built this year by 
Adam Smith. It was long known as David Smith's mill. The latter 
sold to Barber and Heise, who built the present structure. 

8th September, General Potter marched a body of one hundred 
and seventy men to Fort Swartz, and then went up to Colonel Kelly, 
who lay at the mouth of White Deer creek. Fort Swartz was most 
likely Peter Swartz's, who lived on the farm now owned by Honor- 
able George F. Miller. Day's Historical Collections says this fort 
was a mile above Milton ; but as General Potter says nothing of 
crossing the river, it was no doubt the block-house at Peter Swartz's. 

24th September, Henry McCracken, private in Captain William 
Clark's company, killed. He left a widow, Mary, and five children. 



>T 



I78I. 



Narrative of Captain James Thompson — Captain Campleton Killed — 
Letter from Gteneral Potter — Story of the Emerick Family — Roll 
OF Peter Q-rove's and McGtrady's Companies — Christian Hetriok 
AND David Storm Killed. 

EMBER of Council, General James Potter. Assembly, 

WiUiam Maclay, William Montgomery, and Colonel 

William Cooke. Presiding Justice, Frederick Antes. 

Sheriff, James Crawford. Treasurer, William Gray. 

County Commissioners, William Antes, James Espy, and Daniel 

Montgomery. 

13 




i()4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1781. 

On the nth of April, David Kennedy was appointed Secretary 
of the Land Office, Colonel Francis Johnston^ Receiver General, 
and Joha Lukens, Surveyor General. 

Buffalo : Constable, Henry Gilman; Supervisors, AbelRees and 
John Reighard ; Overseers, Michael Hessler and John Clark. 

loth March, Saturday, at ten^ a. m., Black Ann~,Tor larceny from 
Eleanor Green, was whipped at the public whipping-post, in Sun- 
bury — twenty lashes on her bare back, well laid on. 

March 31, Peter Grove, of Buffalo, commissioned lieutenant of 
the rangers ; Samuel Quinn, ensign. In 1 788, the latter was deputy 
surveyor, and Quinn's run, in Clinton county, was called from his 
camping there during that year. 

May 3, fast day, by order of Congress. 

June 26, William Gray, Esquire, appointed paymaster of the 
militia. 

PenrC s Township Residents, c^c. : Anderson, William, tan-yard ; 
Arnold, Casper ; Arnold, Widow ; Campbell, Clary, (tenant on 
Charles Gemberling's place,) he was from Bald Eagle .settlement; 
Cripps, John; Dillman, Andrew; Espert, Widow; Graybill, John, 
non-juror ; Gast, Christian ; Grow, Godfrey ; Gillen, William ; 
Hafflich, Jacob; Heiner, Frederick; Hauser, John; Hessler, Wil- 
liam; Hassinger, Frederick; Jordan, Benjamin; Jost, Widow; 
Kester, Peter ; Kerk, Michael ; Kinney, Jacob ; Kohler, Andrew ; 
Lepley, Jacob ; Miller, Adam ; Miller, Simon ; Maddox, Richard ; 
Merkel, Peter ; Meraby, Edward ; Pickard, John ; Potter, James, 
two slaves; Repass, Jacob; Showers, Michael, tenant of Jacob Stees; 
Stephen, Adam; Shaw, William; Shetterly, John; Witmer, Peter; 
Woods, Joseph. 

In Buffalo : Antes, Philip ; Baker, John ; Bickle, Widow ; Blair, 
Samuel; Boatman, Claudius; Coon, John; Dean, David; Fergu- 
son, James; Green, Joseph, two grist and one saw-mill; Holman, 
Eli; Houghton, John, tenant of Samuel Maclay; Keen, Jacob, 
tenant of John Aurand ; Knipper, Paul ; Klinesmith, Widow ; 
Laughlin, Widow; McAdam, William; McDonald, Widow; Reem, 
Nicholas; Rezner, John; Templeton, Widow; Trester, William; 
Vandyke, John ; Watson, James, saw-mill, at Seebold's now. 

White Deer — Single men: Ammon, Philip; Caldwell, James; 
Clendenning, John ; Collins, Daniel ; Crawford, Robert ; Gamble, 



1781.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ig^ 

Charles ; Gibson, James ; Hamel, Charles ; Hayes, David ; Hood, 
Moses ; Huston, Samuel ; McCartney, Robert ; McKniney, James ; 
McLaughhn, John; Montgomery, Samuel; Murray, William; Poak, 
John; Tannehill, John. 

The ejectment for White Deer mills property was resumed. The 
- suit is brought by Vannost, and has this distorted title : " Timothy 
Macabees, lessee of James Claypoole, vs. Judias Iscariot, with notice 
to Catherine Smith, widow in possession." To Movember term we 
have the commencement of a series of buits between i.udwig Derr 
and Christian Van Gundy, which, after many years, ended m the 
pecuhiary ruin of the latter. It was brought to iNlovember term, 
lessee of Christian Van Gundy vs. Tnomas Troublesome, lessee of 
Ludwig Derr, with notice to Christian Hettrick, tenant in possession- 
It astonishes a lawyer of the present how our predecessors managed 
to keep cases so long in court. Van Gundy's application had not 
the shadow of chance against Derr's title ; yet the contest went on 
for years, until Van Gundy's money gave out. This suit was for the 
present site of Lewisburg. 

Captain dames Thompson's Narrative. 

In the manuscript journal of the late James F. Linn, Esquire, 
under date of June 14, 1832, is the folio wmg entry : "Old Captain 
James Thompson was with us last night. He told us a good part of 
his adventures when with the Indians. He appeared not to wish 
to tell the story. I got it out of him, only m answers to questions." 
The narrative was entered in my father's journal. I have supple- 
mented by the article of Elizabeth Gundaker, now Dale, niece of 
Captain Thompson, in the Lancaster Intelligencer, 1842. 

"In March, 1781, I was going from this town (Lewisburg) up 
to my home, on Spruce run, preparatory to following my wife and 
family down to Penn's creek, whither, 1 had taken them for safety. 
On the road, between John Linn's old place and Colonel Kelly's, 
I was captured by four Indians. When we came to the hollow, 
which is now cleared by Thomas Iddings, tliey discovered a fresh 
track in the mud, and one of them hallooed ' squaw.' Two of them 
set off on a run, the remaining two staid with me, one walking 
before and the other behind. I soon heard the scream of a woman, 



ig6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1781. 

whereupon, the one behind me gave me a punch in the back with 
the butt of his gun, and said 'waugh' — run. We all started off on a 
run, and when we got to the top of the hill, I saw the father of the 
girl fall, and the Indians seize her. She had lost a shoe in the race. 
She was Mary Young, the daughter of Mathew Young, who lived 
on Spruce run. Wilham Hayes now owns the place ; he bought it 
as James Black's property, a few years ago, (now, 1877, Gabriel 
Huntingdon's.) We crossed the White Deer mountains, north of 
the Valley, and camped the second night on Lycoming creek. They 
tied me, with my arms behind me, to two grubs. I managed to get 
the cords off, after they got to sleep ; two of them laid on one side 
of the fire, near ma, and two on the other, with the girl. I tried to 
get one of the tomahawks, but they were lying upon them. I then 
got a stone, they had been using to pound corn with, got on my knees 
near one of them, and prepared to give him a mortal strbke. I 
intended striking him on the temple, but he had a blanket wrapped 
around his head, and I struck too high. The Indian gave a yell and 
awoke the rest. I started to run, but the cord stretched between 
the two grubs, caught me about the middle, and in trying to get 
around it, one of the Indians caught me by the coat collar, and 
in the struggle, tore it clear down to the middle. He drew his 
tomahawk to strike me, but stopped, and addressed the wounded 
one in their language. Drew it the second and third time, when I 
was sure I would get it; but I had made up my mind, to try to 
catch it, and wrest it from him. They then got a gourd, put shot in 
it, and tied it to my waist. This was my death warrant. I could 
have readily escaped myself, but I was anxious to rescue Mary. 
After that, they tied me so tight, I lossed all feeling in my arms 
and hands. Before we got to Towanda, one of the Indians shot a 
turkey, took out the entrails, and roasted them on a stick, and gave 
them to us. It was very delicious, as we had but a few grains of 
corn a day to eat. One of them shot a dipper-duck, and skinning 
it, after making an opening at the belly, slipped it over the hurt 
man's head for a night-cap. 

"When we got to Towanda, the Indians became careless, supposing 
there was no danger of my running away. They made me gather 
wood for the fire, and as I returned each time I slipped a few grains 
of corn out of the kettle, and every load I wandered further from 



1781.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. I97 



camp. At last, seeing no one looking my way, I started with twenty- 
two grains of corn for a provision for a journey of nearly two hun- 
dred miles. I could have escaped before, but I could not bear the 
idea of leaving the girl with them. Her hardships were fearful. 
Often her clothes were frozen solid af^er wading the creeks. We had 
encamped that night at the foot of a hill by a stream of water. She 
urged me to leave her, and finally I followed her advice. I carried 
two loads, I think, still going further up the hill. I took a different 
direction from home at first. I stepped upon a rotten stick, which 
made a noise, and then, mistaking the sound of two trees rubbed 
together by the wind, for the Indians, I ran with all my might, and 
reached a pond, in which I buried myself up to the head. Finding 
the Indians did not come that way, I proceeded, keeping upon 
the tops of the mountains. One night I spent in a hollow tree. At 
another time I came very near getting into an Indian encampment 
before I was aware of it. I saw the Indians pass between me and the 
fire. At another time, coming upon a camp, the Indians hallooed. 
I felt certain I was discovered, but squatted down among the bushes, 
and when they began to cut wood I made off. At one place I found 
two walnuts, at another the bone of a deer, which I cracked, and 
sucked the marrow. This, with the corn, was all the provision I had, 
and, in crossing Lycoming creek, I nearly drowned from excessive 
weakness. I struck the West Branch a few rods above where we 
crossed going up, and found one of the canoes lying on the bank, 
as the river had fallen. I was so weak I could not lift it in, but, by 
means of a handspike and some rollers, I managed to get it in. After 
I got it in, I discovered the other canoe sunk, which I ladled out, 
and lashed to the other. When I got opposite Watsontown, I was so 
weak I could only lay in the bottom of the canoe, and wave my 
hands. Fortunately I was here noticed, and the people came to my 
relief. They considerately fed me with sweet milk only, until I got 
stronger, but it was some time before I could tell them about my 
adventures." 

Mary Young they carried with them to their town. They set her 
to hoeing corn. An old negro, who was also a prisoner, told her to 
dig up the beans planted with the corn, and they would sell her to 
the English. She did as she was advised, and they thought her too 
stupid to learn to work, and sold her. She said two of the Indians 



i()8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1781. 

pursued Captain Thompson part of two days. The wounded Indian 
left them shortly after they got out. She supposed he died, as he 
was very much hurt. Mary was sent to Montreal, and sold. Her 
purchaser's name was Young, and, on tracing the relationship, they 
found they were cousins. She remained there until after the war, 
and then returned to her friends in Buffalo Valley. Tradition says 
her health was very much undermined, and she died soon after. She 
was still living in 1787, when her father died ; but I can trace her no 
further. But for the entry in my father's journal, her history would 
have been as evanescent as her foot-prints, which revealed her pres- 
ence to the Indians. 

Captain Thompson removed his family to Chester county, where 
they remained until after the Indian troubles were all over. They 
then returned, and he purchased of the widow Dempsey the place 
now owned by Jacob Ziebach, on Spruce run, in Buffalo, and resided 
there until the year 1832, when he went to reside with his son-in-law, 
Boyd Smith, (sq#i of Gideon Smith, who lived at the mouth of Little 
Buffalo,) near Jersey Shore, where he died, February 9, 1837, aged 
ninety- three years nine months and nine days. When ten years of 
age, he was with his father at Braddock's defeat. He was a remark- 
able man in old age, often walking from Jersey Shore down into Buf- 
alo Valley, a welcome guest in every house from Pine to Penn's creek. 
His son William married Susan Linn, in 1804, and removed to Sugar 
Creek, Venango county. Their son James died from an explosion, 
which took place in his store, in 1833. He was carrying out ashes 
in an empty keg, as he supposed, but which had several pounds of 
powder in it. Ann married John B. McCalmont, Esquire, nephew 
of old Judge McCalmont. She died in 1 849. John Linn Thompson 
died in Venango, leaving a family. William resides in New Brighton, 
Beaver county. 

In a letter to General Potter, Colonel Hunter states that Captain 
Thomas Kempling, as he writes it, and his eldest son, were killed 
by the Indians, at the mouth of Muncy creek, in March, 1781. 
In the petition of his widow, who writes her name Mary Campleton, 
presented to the Assembly, September 23, 1784, she says : "My 
husband and son, with others, went on a tour of duty up the West 
Branch, early in the spring of 1781, and lying one night at the 
mouth of Muncy creek, in the morning the savages came on them, 



1781.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. igg 

when my unfortunate husband and son, with one WilHam Campble, 
fell a sacrifice to all the cruelties and barbarities that savages could 
inflict, leaving your petitioner and six children. We were driven 
lirom house and home, and so reduced that I am unable to return to 
the place we had improved upon." 

About this time, John Shively who lived on the place now owned 
by R. V. B. Lincoln, Esquire, was captured by the Indians, in the 
meadow, in the rear of Esquire Lincoln's house. He was never 
heard of afterwards. He left a widow and sons. Christian and 
Frederick, who owned the place until the year 1804. His widow 
married Philip Mann, who lived in the Valley up to 1805. 

George Rote and his sister Rody, aged about twelve and fourteen, 
were taken at Mififlinburg, where their father, George Rote (or 
Rhodes) lived. They were separated and carried into the Corn- 
planter's country. When peace was proclaimed they were liberated, 
and met at a furnace, near Clarion, Pennsylvania, and came back 
together. Rody married James Ben, and they rhoved to Centre 
county. They were uncle and aunt to the late Captain John Rote, 
who never could h^rar of an Indian in latter times without getting 
into a passion. Jacob and Conrad Caderman were captured at the 
same time. The former told my informant that Limestone hill 
seemed full of Indians ; that he had a gun and fired into the ground, 
to indicate that they surrendered. He said he liked Indian life 
so well that he would have remained among them, but for his wife 
and children. Conrad played stupid, and did all the mischief he 
could. They soon got tired of him, and sold him to the English for 
a five gallon keg of whisky. They both returned and lived long 
in the Valley. James Ben lived on a place adjoining Philip Fish- 
burn, now in Spring Creek, Centre county. His wife died many 
years ago, and he subsequently married a widow Murphy. 

In the' life of Rev. John Dietrich Aurand, Harbaugh's "Fathers," 
mention is made of his return from the army early this year ; that 
his mother, Mrs. John Aurand, had died but a short time before his 
return, and amid the tenderest longings to see her son once more 
before her departure. A deep sadness took possession of the young 
soldier's spirit when he found his mother no more among the living. 
He often went to her grave to weep and pray. She was buried on 
a gentle knoll on the west side of the present road, and on the south 



200 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1781. 

side of Turtle creek, near the mouth of the stream, under an aged 
yellow pine, in the midst of a clump of white pines of smaller 
growth. 

Tradition has it that a number of people were buried here before 
and during the Revolution. Bickle, who was killed at Henry Mertz's 
place, is said to have been buried here. In my earliest recollection 
it went by the name of the old Indian burying-ground. It is now, 
however, a cleared fields (1872,) and all marks of its former use 
probably obliterated. 

SuNBERY, April 12, 1781. 

Sir : I arrived at my house on Sunday last, and on Monday I 
came to this pleace, and since, I have maid a visite to difrent parts 
of the frunteers, who I find in great disstress, numbers of them 
flying for their lives. At this early season of the year, the enemy 
has maid five different strookes on our frunteers, since the 2 2d of 
March. On the sixth instant, they fiered on an old man, his son^ and 
daughter., The boy was shott ded, and the Indians imedatly maid 
a prisoner of the young woman. The old man had a stick in his 
hand, with which he nobley defended himself against one of the 
Indians, who had a tomhack and maid the fellow drope his wapon. 
Col. Kelly, with a few of his neighbolirs, was in a house at a little 
distance. On hearing the'* enemy guns go off, run to the pleace, 
and obleged the enemy to retreat, leving the young woman there 
prisner, and our brave old Irishman, and his stick behind them, and 
all there blankets. They out run Col. Kelly and his party, and got 
off as usile. 

On Sabath day last, the eight instant, in the evening, they came 
to the house of one Durmes, about five miles from this pleace. 
Immedatly on there entring they house, they shot Dunn and tooke 
one Capt. Solomons a prisoner. There was four weemen and a 
number of children in the house. They plundered the house of 
every thing that was vallibel. But what is surprising, they went off 
with Captd. Solomon and there plunder, leving behind the weeman 
and children. This hapened leaf in the evening. The next day 
they were persued but not come up with. 

Capt. Robinson has got forty men enlisted for the war, but many 
of them are so naked, for want of all kinds of clothing, that the can 
not do duty. They have not a blanket among them all. I know 



1781.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 201 

it is not in the power of Council to provide for them at present, but 
I hope they will as soon as posable. 

I most sincely wished for our Assembly to have been with me in 
my disagreeable visit along the much disstressed fruntiers. I have 
not language to express their distresses. 

With great esteem, your humble serv't, 

Jas. Potter. 

Jos. Reed, Pres'f. 

The Story of the Emerick Family. 

On the farm now owned by Jacob Seebold, to the right of the 
road going to New Berlin, after passing the road through Chappel's 
Hollow, lived David Emerick, with his wife and four children, his 
other daughter being down the country at that time. Emerick had 
first settled upon the tract where the Widow Brown's tavern is, or 
near it, before the revolutionary war, in 1773, where he built a 
house, cleared ten acres of land, planted apple trees, &c. He sold 
this place, by deed dat^d 21st June, 1780, to Daniel Rees. On the 
15th of November, 1779, he had purchased of Andrew Glen and 
wife the tract of two hundred and eighty acres, (on which he subse- 
quently removed, and was captured.) for ^2^925. Here he cleared 
a piece and built a cabin, and was residing in April, 1781. 

Here Henry Bickel, (who lived where Henry Mertz now does,) was 
shot. He had come there to help roll logs. His family was not dis- 
turbed. They plundered Emerick's house of everything, and loaded 
him down with baggage. After proceeding a little way, they pulled 
down a sapling, sharpened the end of it, impaled the babe, and let it 
fiy in the air. Emerick became so exhausted with his load that he sat 
down upon a log, and refused to go any further. One of the In- 
dians sank his tomahawk into his head, and killed him. One of the 
daughters died from excessive bleeding at the nose, on the journey 
through the wilderness. They were taken to Niagara,^ and the wife 
and daughters married Indians, their captors ; and many years ago 

1 Heckewelder says, that the Muncys took refuge during the Revolution in 
Canada, and remained there. It is reasonable, to conclude, that the party mak- 
ing this descent upon the Valley were of its aboriginal inhabitants, familiar 
with its localities, and, therefore, able to enter and withdraw with comparative 
safety. 



202 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1781. 

Mrs. Emerick and her Indian husband came to Henry Myer's, near 
Harrisburg, in order to draw some money coming to her from her 
grandfather's estate. Thus far I had the story from Benjamin Sliell, 
(court crier,) of New Berlin. Emerick was an uncle of Mr. Shell's 
mother, and the Emericks came from what is now Dauphin county, 
and settled, as he heard the story, in the "Shamokin country." 

My own researches among the records developed the dates and 
the rest of the narrative. There is on record, in Sunbury, a letter of 
attorney, dated the 12th of January, 1805, recorded in deed book 
M, page 516, the parties to which are Archibald Thompson, of Stam- 
ford, in the district of Niagara, province of Upper Canada, and 
Catherine, his wife, formerly the widow of David Emerick, to James 
Thompson, of the same place, authorizing him to collect their inter- 
est in the rents, issues, and profits of lands, and all the goods and 
chattels, late of David Emerick ; and also from the heirs and execu- 
tors of Conrad Sharp, of Berks county, their interest in his estate. 
It is dated at Willoughby, and acknowledged before Archibald Stew- 
art. It is recorded on the 4th of March, 1805. It is followed by 
a Jetter of attorney from James Thompson to George Schoch, to sell 
and convey their interest in a tract of land, in Buffalo township, 
adjoining lands of Hessler, Hugh Beatty, George Olds, and James 
Jenkins, containing one hundred and seventy- one acres, "which 
they hold as tenants, in common with John Bickle," recited to be 
conveyed by Andrew Glen and wife. On referring to deed book 
C, page 378, it will appear that Andrew Glen and Sarah, his wife, 
on the i6th of November, 1779, deeded to David Emerick, a war- 
rant of the 15th of December, 1772, for two hundred and eighty 
acres, consideration, ^2,925. It describes the land as adjoining 
Thomas Sutherland, James Hunter, and George Olds. 

9th August, 1786, John Aurand appointed guardian of Margaret 
and Catherine Emerick, children of David Emerick, deceased. Ei- 
nally there is a release recorded at Lewisburg, dated the 26th of Sep- 
tember, 1 81 6, from James Thompson to George Schoch, which recites 
that David Emerick left a widow, named Catherine, and two daugh- 
ters, Margaret, intermarried with James Thompson, and the other 
intermarried with George Bauder, and he, Thompson, releases his 
wife's share of David Emerick's estate, amounting to ^516 75. So 
it seems that the wife, and at least one of the daughters, married 



1781.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 203 

their captors, who, many years after, came back and received their 
share of the estate of the man they murdered. Mr. Shell said Mrs. 
Emerick was infatuated with the Indian style of life, and endeavored 
to persuade some of her female relatives to go off with them when 
here. The recollection of one of the old inhabitants of the Valley 
was, that they came here in grand style, on horseback, Mrs. Emer- 
ick decorated with all the tinsel of Indian dress. 

In 1825, Bonham's heirs brought an ejectment against William 
Gibbons, for a tract of land, in the warrantee name of David Emer- 
ick, and, to sustain their title, gave in evidence a deed, dated the 
2ist of June, 1780, from David Emerick to Daniel Rees, under 
whom Bonham claimed. The evidence on the trial is all lost, but 
from some manuscript notes taken by the late James F. Linn, it 
appears that the defense, who had no real defense, subpoenaed all 
the old settlers in the country to prove that David Emerick was killed 
in 1778 or 1779, from which the lawyers argued the deed a forgery, 
though it purported to be acknowledged before Christopher Gettig, 
Esquire. We are unable to say exactly, but think this was a dodge 
of the lawyers, taken upon the second trial, the other side, Mr. Bellas 
and Hepburn never dreaming of parol testimony thus affecting their 
title. Ainong others called to prove that Emerick was killed prior 
to the date of the deed, was Michael Smith, grandfather of A". W. 
Smith, Esquire. He said " I was living in the place where I am now 
living (1830 ^) during the revolutionary war. There was a massacre 
by the Indians in Dry valley. Henry Bickle was killed ; the only 
one, as far as we know. David Emerick and his family were taken 
prisoners on the same day. His woman came in afterward, and 
said Emerick was killed on the road. David Emerick never appeared 
again. It was three years afterward when his wife returned. She 
was afterward married to Thompson, in York State. I was eight or 
nine years of age at the time of the massacre. Bickle's wife had a 
son, about four months after his murder. He is now in court, and 
his name is Henry Bickle. I was born in 1769. I saw Henry 
Bickle after he was murdered. My father lived about two miles from 
Bickle at that time. My wife's mother and Emerick's ^wife's mother 
were sisters. I saw Thompson after he was married to Mrs. Emerick. 
They were married about the last of the war, or in it. 

Smith lived on Kunkle's place, west of Henry Mertz. 



204 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1781. 

"Lee's massacre was about a year after Emerick's. It was in Dry 
Valley, and about the time of the general runaway. I saw Lee's fam- 
ily all lying scalped. Emerick has some children. I never saw any 
of them. There was one of the girls down below at the time, and 
was at my house about a year ago. Emerick lived near the hill, not 
far from Hummel's tavern, in Dry Valley. Emerick's children were 
all taken, except the one below. I saw Lees' killed in the house 
where they were killed. They had their heads all scalped, and were 
laid on a bundle of straw." Jacob Bower, of Union township, whose 
deposition was read, stated that knew David Emerick, and, three 
years after he became acquainted with him, he was taken by the In- 
dians. " They killed him on the hill, and we fled to Lee's, and lived 
there until after hay-making. Lee was after the Indians when Trin- 
kle and Faught were killed. Lee was killed by the Indiaiis after- 
wards. Emerick was not taken prisoner the same summer Lee was 
killed, but the year we lived at Lee's." 

Henry Bickle, sworn : "I am fifty-one or fifty-two years of age, and 
was born in 1778 or 1779, one of the two. I have been always told 
I was born about four months after my father was killed. I saw 
Emerick's wife when she was in. My mother lives twenty miles from 
here. Mrs. Emerick gave me a pen-knife when she was in. I can- 
not recollect how long since. My mother is eighty-five the 7th of 
next September. I was born in July, and my father was killed in 
April, as I have always been told by my mother and others. Emer- 
ick's wife and my mother were sisters. My mother was married to 
old George Schoch, who is since dead. She has lost her mind, and 
would not do any good if she were here." 

The plaintiffs then gave in evidence the records of an ejectment, 
No. 138, May Term, 1834. James Thompson and Margaret, his 
wife, late Margaret Emerick, in right of said Margaret, George Ban- 
der and Catherine, his wife, late Catherine Emerick, vs. David Zeluff 
and Robert Hilands, and called the late James Merrill, Esquire, who 
said that he had brought "this suit at the instance of David Thorburn, 
who showed me a power of attorney, which he took away with him 
again. I never knew the man before. He said he lived in Canada." 

They also offered letters from Thorburn from Canada, post-marked 
Lewistown, which were rejected. This ejectment was non-prossed 
under the rules. 



1781.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 203 

Defendants called Philip Hoyens, who swore he knew David Em- 
erick and Henry Bickle. " Emerick first lived on the Gibbons place. 
He made an improvement, built a house, and cleared about ten acres. 
Bickle and Emerick were killed by the Indians. I think they took 
Emerick away a piece. Emerick moved to this place of Gibbons' 
before the war. It was two miles from Northumberland." 

Instead of contending stoutly that such evidence could not contra- 
dict a deed as to date, and could raise no presumption of death as 
against a written document, Mr. Hepburn, for the plaintiff, seemed 
to yield to the force of the old men's testimony, and said that Emer- 
ick's name might be a fictitious one, which Bonham had used ; it 
was the practice of the day to use fictitious names to obtain a warrant 
of survey, and argued further, that there was no evidence that the 
David Emerick killed by the Indians was the one who owned this 
land. 

The jury, in the former trial, had found for the defendants. It 
was taken to the Supreme Court, and the case is reported in 2 Rawle, 
45, reversed on error of the judge. At this, the second trial, they 
came in with a sealed verdict, finding for defendant again. On be- 
ing polled, one dissented, and they were sent out, and, not being 
able to agree, they were discharged. 

At May Term, 1830, the cause was called again, and after the jury 
were in the box, the parties settled by an agreement that Gibbons 
should hold the interference during life, after which it was to revert 
to Bonham's heirs. Lashells and Greenough were for the defense, as 
could be guessed by any one reading the trial, and knowing their 
peculiar ability in ejectment cases. 

An examination of the assessment books in the commissioners' office, 
would have shown that John Lee was assessor on the 27th of March, 
1782, wherefore, according to the testimony of all the witnesses, the 
Bickle and Emerick massacre must have been in 1 781 . The deed from 
Glen and wife to Emerick, showed that Emerick was alive on the 
15th of November, 1779, while Smith and Bickle's testimony would 
make out that he was killed in 1 778 or 1 779. The assessment books 
show that Emerick and Bickle were both alive on ist of November, 
1780, and in the one made by John Lee himself, in March, 1782, 
for the year 1781, Bickle's property is assessed to his widow, and the 



20b ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. I 1781. 



name and family of Emerick disappear forever from the assessment 
lists after 1781. 

Hummel's tavern, in Dry valley, was at the intersection of the 
roads at Adam Miller's, beyond Samuel Guise's. 

The Fought and Trinkle murders I can get no trace of, except 
the allusion in this evidence. They both lived in Dry valley. 

Henry Bickle, who was killed when Emerick's family was cap- 
tured, left the following family : Christopher, the eldest, who took 
the farm in 1792, at 40 shillings per acre; Maria C, married to 
Benjamin Stroh; Elizabeth afterwards married Jacob Kamerlin. 
Henry, as stated. The widow, Esther Regina, married George 
Schoch. Christopher sold it to John Meyer in 1806, who sold to 
Daniel Nyhart, who sold, 4th May, 1822, to Jacob Mertz, whose 
son, Henry, resides at the old place. 

John Wierbach's daughter, (sister of Nicholas and John,) of 
Buffalo, was carried off by the Indians. She married among them, 
and after the war her father went West, and found her, but could 
never induce her to return, though he offered every inducement he 
could. She preferred the wild life of the savages. 

Pay-roll of Peter Grove's Detachment for Services on the Frontier, 

June I. 

Lieutenant — Grove, Peter. 

Sergeants — Clark, William; Wilson, Matthew. 

Privates — Trester, John; Lamberson, Nicholas; Rough, John; 
Barber, Uriah ; Trester, Jacob ; Shock, John ; Fisher, Paul ; Bower, 
George ; Bradley, Matthew ; Bower, Daniel ; Houser, Jacob ; Har- 
riott, William; Grove, Michael. 

Pay-roll of Lieutenant Samuel McGradfs Detachment. 

Lieutenant — McGrady, Samuel. 

Sergeants — Montgomery, Samuel; Armstrong, Daniel. 

Privates — Love, Robert ; Daraugh, Ephraim ; Fleming, ^ Hans ; 
Fulton, Samuel; Marshall, William; Lykens, Joseph; Misener, 
John ; Clark, George ; Rees, Daniel ; Speddy, William ; Pollock, 

^ His proper name was Archibald Fleming. He lived at Shippensburg in August, 
1799, as appears by his receipt. 



1781.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 20j 



William ; Dougherty, William ; McClung, Charles ; English, Wil- 
Uam; Allen, Robert; Parsons, Barnabas; McGrady, Alexander. 

In 1 781, the first battalion of Northumberland county militia, 
commanded by Colonel John Kelly, was composed of the following 

companies : 

Captain John Foster, numbering, officers and privates, 55 men. 
" James Thompson, " " " 44 " 

" George Overmeier, " " " 5^ " 

Samuel Fisher, " " " 55 " 

" Samuel Young, " " "51 " 

Abraham Piatt, " " " 53 " 

'• WiUiam Irvine, " " " 53 " 

WilhamGray, '' " " 44 " 

Among the rangers commanded by Captain Thomas Robinson, 
June I , occur the following from Buffalo Valley : Claudius Boat- 
man, fifer, William Armstrong, Ludwig Rough, Conrad Kather- 
man, Jacob Links. 

The names of Thomas Perry, Hugh Rodman, John Linn, Wil- 
liam Black, James Rodman, James Boyd, Thomas Black, John 
Rhea, William Black, James Hamersly, appear among those who 
received pay for seven months' services. 

Indian Outrages in the Valley. 
July 18, Colonel Hunter writes that the Indians have again made 
their appearance, and that there were no stores of any kind, and 
meat very scarce in the county. 

/ August 3 , Walter Clark and William Antes write : ' ' With pain and 
with the utmost truth we are obliged to declare that we cannot com- 
ply with the law passed for supplies. The whole personal property 
of the county, even if removed to a place where cash could be paid 
for it, would not pay the tax. The improvements are grown up, 
burned, or destroyed, and the most of the personal property moved 
into the lower counties." 

September, Captain Robinson Avrites : ''The savages have been 
quiet for some time. They made their appearance in harvest, but did 
no damage. Lieutenant Van Campen and six men have gone up into 
the Indian country, to discover their moves." He recommends 
Doctor Eaker, who was then in the county, and intended to settle 



2o8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1781. 

there, for surgeon of his company, and refers to Doctor Shippen, 
who knew him. 

October 26, Wilham Antes, James Espy, and Daniel Montgom- 
ery, the county commissioners, write : " That the county books and 
papers are yet in Paxton ; that it appeared by the treasurer's books 
that the residents paid their taxes, while the non-residents did not; 
that they would now proceed with the tax business with dispatch." 

6th October, Christian Hetrick, a private in Captain Samuel Mc- 
Grady's seven-months men, was killed. He lived at Derr's, and his 
party was called out upon the appearance of some Indians on Buf- 
falo creek. They did not come up with them, and on Hetrick's re- 
turn home, a mile and a half above Gundy's mill, he was shot. When 
found he had a bullet wound, and was scalped and tomahawked. His 
widow, whose name was Agnes, married Ephraim Morrison, in 1787, 
and from an affidavit made to get a pension for Hetrick's children, 
I got the facts. Her children were Andrew, born May i, 1775; 
Catherine, 15th March, 17773 Elizabeth, 15th June, 1779; Polly, 
i6th October, 1781. He was one of the first residents upon the site 
of Lewisburg, and is buried just above Andrew Wolfe's, where the 
rocks jut out upon the road, in the corner of the woods. My father 
often pointed out the place, but he did not know the man's name. 

During this year David Storms was killed, on the place now owned 
by Esquire Cameron, in Buffalo, (Benjamin Lahr tenant.) David 
Storms, a son, married Elizabeth Baker, aunt of Mrs. John Beeber, 
from whom I received the story. David Storms, the son, lived 
awhile in Centre county, and laid out Stormstown, called after him. 
David Storms, senior, was outside the house at work, and his two 
daughters were engaged spinning. He saw the Indians, and ran 
into the house. They knocked the door in, killed and scalped him. 
The girls ran up stairs into different rooms. The one closed the 
door ; the other got behind the open door. They killed the one, and 
an Indian looked in the other room ; seeing no one, went down stairs. 
She watched them from the window, and, thinking they noticed her, 
she sank down in a fainting fit ; but they did not return. 

19th October, Jane, widow of William McClung, killed at Fort 
Freeland, was married by the Rev. Hugh Rlagill, to David Martin. 
She had three children, the youngest not born when their father was 
killed. 



1782.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2og 

Among those deceased this year occur Casper Yost, of Penn's ; 
William Rodman, of White Deer ; (his widow, Martha, afterwards 
married James Fleming.) Children : James, Thomas, Alexander, 
John, Samuel, Benjamin, and William. 



1^8^. 




Indian Incursions — Rezner Killed — Major John Lee Killed — History 
OF Lee's Family, and Walker's — Death of Captain Casper Weitzel. 

^ILLIAM MOORE, President of the State. James Pot- 
ter, Vice President. Frederick Antes, Presiding Judge. 
At the general election held in October, William Mont- 
gomery, William Cooke, and William Maclay were 
elected members of the General Assembly. Thomas Grant received 
the highest number of votes for Sheriff, but Henry Antes, the next 
highest in number of votes, received the commission ; John Chat- 
tam. Coroner ; and David Mead was elected County Commissioner. 
The officers of Buffalo were : Constable, Peter Burns ; Supervisor, 
Nicholas Reem ; Overseers, Michael Hessler and George Hains. 

In Penn's township, George Herrold is assessed with two mills 
and a ferry ; Tobias Bickle, senior, with a tan-yard ; William An- 
derson, tan-yard. Additional residents : Frederick Bubb, Frederick 
Guy, (non-juror,) Andrew Gift, John Rush. 

Captain Matthew Smith was a better warrior, no doubt, than 
prothonotary, but answered for war times, when there was little to 
do. I copy a specimen of his orphans' court records : 

"At an orphans' court held at Sunbury, January ii, 1782, 
the court are of opinion, from information given, that Benj. Elliot 
and Jean Irwin (alias Elliot) be and appear at Sunbury, on Mon- 
day, the 14th inst., to answer said court on some complaint of 
misdemeanour. Fail not under the penalty of ^j^ioo. Note : the 
14 



210 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1782. 

complaint is that the estate of Richard Irwin is embezzhng, and 
that the above Benjamin and Jean is to be provided with security 
to cloath, maintain, and educate the minor children ; otherwise, 
other security will be given, that no expense will accrue to the said 
minor children. 

Matthew Smith." 

The Indian outrages commenced early this year, and on the ist 
of May Captain Joseph Green had a party out in defense of the 
frontier. 

May 6, Edward Tate, a private in Captain George Overmeier's 
company, was wounded by a ball through ^his foot, in an engage- 
ment with the Indians, which ocurred on a place then occupied by 
Frederick Wise, (now in Limestone township, somewhere between 
Mifflinburg and Wehr's tavern.) A number of the company were 
on a scout, and were talking, at the time, of the merits of their 
respective guns. One said he could shoot the drop from an Indian's 
nose. Just at that moment the Indians, who were in ambush, fired 
upon them, and several fell. Tate, who was wounded, ran and 
concealed himself. An Indian, in pursuit, came near to where he 
lay, and looked over the fence, but did not discover him. Philip 
Seebold, whose authoritv was old Mrs. Overmeier, said the names 
of the two men killed were Lee and Rezner ; that their bodies were 
brought to Captain Overmeier's, and she washed them, and they were 
buried in the grave-yard at Dry run, near late Philip Seebold's resi- 
dence. 

Major Lee and others Killed by the Indians. 

The attack on John Lee's (now Winfield) was made in August. 
A letter directed to Colonel Magaw, at Carlisle, found among his 
papers, from Colonel Butler, dated 25th August, says, a party of 
Indians, supposed to be sixty or seventy in number, killed Mr. Lee 
and family, a few miles above Sunbury. Letters of administration 
were issued to Captain John Lowdon and Thomas Grant on the 
31st of August. Lee was assessor in April of this year. 

I copy from Meginness his narration of the occurrence, as I can 
find no contemporaneous account of it. Meginness, however, con- 
founds Major John Lee with Sergeant Lee, killed at Fort Rice, on 



1782.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 211 

the 24th of October, and relates an incident occurring at Sergeant 
Lee's funeral as happening at Major Lee's funeral : 

"It was a summer evening, and his family were at supper. A 
young woman named Katy Stoner escaped up stairs, and concealed 
herself behind the chimney. Lee was tomahawked and scalped, and 
a man named John Walker shared the same fate. A Mrs. Boatman 
and daughter were also killed. Mrs. Lee, with a small child and a 
boy named Thomas, were led away captives. They took the path 
up the Valley, crossing White Deer mountain, and then the river. 
One of Lee's sons, Robert, returning about the time, saw the In- 
dians leaving. He fled to Northumberland, and gave the alarm. 
A party was organized by Colonel Hunter, and started in pursuit. 
Henry McHenry, father of A. H. McHenry, of Jersey Shore, was in 
this party, and gave an account of it to his son. In crossing the 
mountains, Mrs. Lee was bitten by a rattlesnake, and her leg became 
so much swollen, she traveled with great difficulty. Tne Indians 
finding themselves pursued, urged her on as rapidly as possible, but 
her strength failed her. When near the mouth of Pine run, four 
miles below Jersey Shore, she gave out and sat down. An Indian 
slipped up behind her, placed the muzzle of his rifle to her ear, and 
blew off the whole upper portion of her head. One of them seized 
her little child by the heel and dashed it against a tree. They then 
fled, crossing the river at Smith's fording, and ran up Nippenose 
bottom. When Colonel Hunter came up with his men, the body of 
Mrs. Lee was yet warm, and the child, but little injured, was moan- 
ing piteously. Near Antes' Gap the Indians separated, and ran up 
both sides of the mountain, and the party gave up the chase, as they 
were nearly exhausted. They came back and buried Mrs. Lee where 
she died, and brought the child back. They dug a hole alongside 
of Walker's body and rolled him in. Mrs. Boatman's daughter sur- 
vived and lived many years afterwards. Young Thomas Lee was 
not recovered for many years afterwards. His brother made arrange- 
ments with the Indians to bring him to Tioga Point, (Athens now,) 
where he was delivered to his friends. Such was his love of Indian 
Hfe that they were obUged to tie him and place him into a canoe to 
bring him home. When near Wilkesbarre they untied him, but as 
soon as the canoe touched the shore, he was out and off" like a deer. 
They caught him, however, and, on arriving at Northumberland, he 



212 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1782. 

evinced all the suUenness of a captive. Boys and girls played about 
him for several days before he showed any disposition to join them. 
At last he began to inquire the names of things. By degrees he 
became civiUzed, and obtained a good education." — Meginness, 
page 276. 

John Van Buskirk told me when he came to the Valley, in 181 6, 
the' old people thereabouts showed him the spot where Lee was 
killed, by what is now (1877) a blasted pine, some little distance 
in a westerly course from the furnace stone stable; and he said Lee 
was buried, with his family, near their residence, which Isaac Eyer, 
senior, tells me, stood just where the furnace railroad crosses the 
road to the river, and that his father lived in it until he built the 
new house, within his own recollection. 

I once had occasion to examine the title papers of Youngman's 
and Walter's place. Among them is the release of Thomas Lee, 
the eldest son, his signature, excellent hand- writing, dated ist April, 
1797, to Robert Lee, of Point township. Release of Sarah, mar- 
ried to William Beard, of Lycoming county, 24th April, 1797, to 
Robert. Rebecca, married to Robert Hursh, of Lycoming county, 
of same date ; and Eliza Lee. She was probably the infant spoken 
of in the narrative. Robert Lee then sold to Abraham Eyerly, 
(now Eyer,) 2d May, 1797. 

The sequel to John Walker's murder, Mr. Meginness relates, as 
follows : "In the year 1790 his sons Benjamin, Joseph, and Henry 
Walker were living on a farm not far from the mouth of Pine creek, 
a few miles above Jersey Shore, when two Indians, one a youth and 
the other a middle-aged, well-proportioned man, came into the 
neighborhood. At Stephenson's tavern, near the mouth of the 
creek, some people, and among them the Walkers, had gathered.. 
The Indians got drunk, and performed many antics ; and the old 
Indian, putting on the most horrid grimaces, and twisting his face 
into all sorts of shapes, said, ' this is the way old Walker looked 
when I killed and scalped him.' That evening the brothers per-, 
suaded one Samuel Doyle to accompany them, and murdered the 
Indians, placing their bodies in the creek near where Phelps' mill 
stands. The bodies were washed out by a freshet, and suspicion 
pointed to the Walkers, who fled the country." 

The county records show that letters upon the estate of John 



1782.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 213 



Walker were granted to his widow, Jane, and eldest son, Benjamin, in 
August 1782, and the rest of his family consisted of William, who 
died before 1790, (leaving a son, John,) Henry, Joseph, John, 
Samuel, and Sarah, married to William Morrison. 

During this year, a boy sent to Van Gundy's mill (now J. W. 
Shriner's, near Lewisburg,) was shot from his horse. This occurred 
on the Meixell place, a short distance above Francis Wilson's. He 
was only fourteen years of age, and his name has not been preserved, 
but the spot, a marsh by the present road, was haunted, people said, 
by his ghost riding a white horse. 

Deaths. 

Casper Weitzel, Esquire, was a lawyer, practicing at Sunbury, 
when the war broke out, in 1775, and as secretary of the county 
committee, took a very active part in favor of independence. In 
1776 he raised a company in and around Sunbury, which was at- 
tached to Colonel Miles' regiment, and participated in the disastrous 
battle of the 27th of August, on Long Island. He fought through 
the British ranks, and made his way into camp, with Lieutenant 
Colonel Brodhead, with a loss of twenty, officers and men, of his 
company. His rolls, written in his own neat hand, are in the office 
of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. He was a granduncle of 
P. R. Weitzel, Esquire, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 

John Smith, of Buffalo township ; his children were Mrs. Cath- 
erine Norgang and Mrs. Christian Storms. Martin Trester and 
Adam Smith, of Buff"alo. James Poak, of White Deer, leaving a 
widow, Mary ; Sarah, married to Colonel John Kelly ; Deborah, to 
Ephraim Darrough, — James, Thomas, William, and David were his 
children. He lived at the mouth of Little Buffalo creek. Fort Horn, 
(Cameron's.) 





>7Q 



1783. 




State Officials — Election Returns — Contested Election — Reverend 
Cyriacus Spangenberg — The Brady Family. 

TATE OFFICIALS: His Excellency, John Dickinson, 
President. Judges of the High Court of Errors and 
Appeals, John Dickinson, Samuel Miles, and Henry 
Wyncoop. Edward Burd, Prothonotary. 

Councillor, John Boyd. Members of Assembly, William Maclay, 
James McClenachan, and William Cooke. President Justice, Wil- 
liam Montgomery. Prothonotary, Major Lawrence Keene, appointed 
September 25, vice Matthew Smith. (Among the applicants for this 
appointment were Colonel Atlee and Daniel Montgomery.) County 
Commissioner, John Clarke. County Treasurer, Frederick Antes, 
appointed October 2o.~" Collector of Excise, William Wilson, ap- 
pointed October 20. 

Officers of Buffalo : Constable, Ludwig Derr ; Supervisors, Jacob 
Dreisbach and John Dabellon ; Overseers, George Overmeier and 
Alexander McGrady. Additional residents : Foster, Andrew ; Foster, 
Thomas ; Frederick, Thomas ; Garret, John ; Greenhoe, Andrew ; 
Gibson, James ; Gray, John ; Grosvenor, Richard ; Gunner, Jacob; 
Hart, John ; Harman, Samuel ; Hanna, Isaac; Kennedy, Alexander ; 
Knox, George ; Lincoln, Mishael ; May, George ; Macpherson, 
John; Spangler, Christian ; Thompson, John, junior; Troxell, 
George. Improvement, Andrew Morrow, grist and saw-mill. 

Residents of White Deer : Iddings, Samuel ; Potter, James, Es- 
quire. 

Penn's : Boop, George ; Moore, George ; Pyle, George ; Sherk, 
John ; Weaver, Michael. Widow Stees is taxed with grist and saw- 
mill. 

21^ 



1783.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



215 



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2i6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1783. 

Two returns were made of this election, one signed by Elias 
Youngman, Anthony Geiger, and John Tschops, judges of the 
Augusta or Sunbury district, and Jacob Dreisbach, for the Buffalo 
district, certifying to the election of Samuel Hunter, junior, and 
William Gray, of Buffalo, as members of the Council of Censors ; 
John Boyd, as member of the Supreme Executive Council ; William 
Maclay, William Cooke, and John Weitzel, as members of Assem- 
bly; John Byers, Commissioner; Henry Antes, Sheriff, &c.; the 
other return, signed by James Murray, James Espy, and Simon 
Spaulding, of the Northumberland district, and Richard Manning, 
of the Muncy district, certified to the election of William Mont- 
gomery and Samuel Hunter as Censors, Robert Martin as Councillor, 
James McClenachan, Daniel Montgomery, and Frederick Antes as 
members of Assembly; Henry Antes, Sheriff; John Clarke, Com- 
missioner, &c. 

The former judges arrived at their result by throwing out the 
Northumberland and Muncy boxes. They did this because in- 
truders from Wyoming were allowed to vote at Northumberland, 
and residents upon the Indian lands were allowed to vote at Muncy. 

On the 25th of November, the House of Representatives arrived 
at a little different result, by rejecting the Muncy box alone, thus 
admitting William Maclay, William Cooke and James McClenachan 
as members;- Samuel Hunter and William Montgomery became 
members of the Council of Censors, on November 13, by counting 
all the votes ; John Boyd, Councillor, and John Clarke, (Buffalo,) 
County Commissioner. 

The deposition of Thomas Hamilton proved that, at the Muncy 
election, Richard Manning, who lived on Long Island, supposed to 
be Indian land, acted as judge, and David McKinney, who lived 
opposite the Great Island, on Indian land, acted as inspector ; that 
John Price, Jojm Hamilton, Britton Caldwell, one Thorp, and 
others, who resided upon Indian land had voted at the Muncy dis- 
trict election, held at Amariah Sutton's. The Muncy district was 
composed of Bald Eagle and Muncy. Robert Fleming was the only 
one from Bald Eagle who voted. Manning testified that he acted 
as judge ; lived on Long Island ; that Daugherty, who acted as 
inspector of the election, lived fifteen miles from the district, in 
Turbut township, which was in the Northumberland district ; that 



1783.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 217 

the Indian land men voted generally in favor of Montgomery, Antes, 
and McClenachan for Assembly, &c. 

William Sims' testimony, with that of others, in regard to the 
Northumberland box, was that he had been up at Wyoming, and 
saw William Bonhani there, in company with Colonel Zebulon But- 
ler, and Bonham acknowledged to him that it was his business there 
to get the Wyoming people to go down to Northumberland and 
vote ; that Bonham was exceedingly busy in inviting and persuading 
the New England people to go down and vote ■ that Colonel Butler 
told Captain Gaskins that there would be over one hundred down ; 
that many of them were in Northumberland and had voted, and 
Bonham kept an open house for them ; heard Bonham tell Schotl 
to go up to his house and get his dinner ; and further said the elec- 
tion had cost him $20. Captain Spaulding, one of the New Eng- 
land men, acted as judge, and Lord Butler, son of Colonel Zebulon, 
acted as clerk. 

Simon Spaulding testified that he lived at Stoke \ had been seven 
years captain in the army, &c. ; that the principle on which the 
people came down to vote was to show their design of conforming 
to the laws of Pennsylvania, and that they took that as the first op- 
portunity of doing it, &c. 

A petition to the Assembly remonstrating against receiving the 
returns from Muncy and Northumberland was numerously signed 
by the inhabitants along Penn's creek, and of Buffalo Valley, and 
other parts of the county. Among the names of the Hesslers, 
Ulrichs, Jacob Welker, &c., occurs that of Cyriacus Spangenberg, 
V. D. M. The autograph is that of an elegant penman, and fixes 
the date of his residence on Penn's creek two years earlier than 
Doctor Harbaugh supposed when he wrote the following notice of 
him: " In the latter part of the year, one Rev. Cyriacus Spangen- 
berg, who had come over with the Hessian mercenaries, and had 
secured, irregularly, ordination by a frivolous preacher named Philip 
J. Michael, thus, not by the door, but ' climbing up some other 
way,' was this wolf admitted into the fold ; located near Selinsgrove 
and began to preach there, at Row's Church, Mahantango, Middle 
Creek, and other places. 

"Such characters often found their way into the quiet and rural 
settlements of Pennsylvania, as the serpent did into Eden, insinuate 



2r8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1783. 

themselves into the favor of the needy and unsuspecting, before 
their old sins could follow them, or new ones could disclose their 
true character. Hungry souls, who had been for years without the 
ministry, would hope the best, even amid doubts and fears, and thus 
were in a favorable position to be deceived. " Like all others, the 
German Reformed Church has not escaped these painful afflictions. 

"Spangenberg was not long here before his true character ap- 
peared. He had represented himself as a single man, drew upon 
himself the affections of a young female, obtained her promise of 
marriage, and the day was fixed for the wedding. But on the day 
previous, a letter was discovered from his wife, still living in Europe. 
This at once arrested the whole business, and set the son of perdition 
bare before the community. He now left Selinsgrove, to the great 
rehef of the people. There are still (1857) aged persons along 
Penn's creek, who in youth heard the story of this vagabond's 
doings, and much of it still floats, in half uncertain tradition, among 
those of the present generation. 

"His fate will interest our readers. In 1795 he had succeeded in 
introducing himself to congregations in (then) Bedford county, in- 
cluding Berlin, now Somerset county, Pennsylvania. A division 
had for some time been growing wider in the congregation at 
Berlin — some anxious to be relieved of him, others as desirous of 
retaining him. On a day appointed for a vote, the people assembled 
in the church, Spangenberg being also present. Just before voting, 
a pious and influential elder, named Jacob Glassmore, who sat in 
the altar with Spangenberg, made some remarks favoring a change- 
of ministers, and expressed a hope that the result of the vote would 
show that the congregation were inclined in that way. Whereupon 
Spangenberg sprang to his feet in wrath, drew a dirk from his pocket 
and plunged it into the elder's heart. In a moment Elder Glassmore 
lay in' blood and death in the altar before the whole congregation." 

" Spangenberg was seized immediately and placed in Bedford jail. 
His trial ended on the 27th of April, and he was found guilty of 
murder in the first degree. Efforts were made with the Governor 
for a pardon, or to have the sentenced commuted. The Governor 
submitted the records to the chief justice. The reply was unfavora- 
ble, and on the loth of October, 1795, between ten a. m. and two 
p. M., Spangenberg was hanged at Bedford." 



1783.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2ig 

Remim'scences of the Brady Family. 

October 20, died Mrs. Mary Brady, widowof Captain John Brady. 
Her remains rest in the Lewisburg cemetery. She died on the Ja- 
phet Morton place, a long tract, which extends from (and gives the 
name to) Mortonsville, (better known as Smoketown,) up to .the 
place lately owned by John Schrack, Esquire. She was born in 1 735 , 
and her maiden name was Quigley. She died at the early age of 
forty-eight years, and left the following family : 

Captain Samuel Brady, born 1758, at Shippensburg. James 
Brady, killed in 1778. John Brady, born 1761, and known as 
Sheriff. Mary (married to Captain William Gray, of Sunbury,) died 
December 13, 1850. William P. Brady, who removed to Indiana 
county, Pennsylvania. He was deputy surveyor in Northumberland 
county many years. His son, Hugh, was a noted attorney in the 
western counties of the State. The latter married a daughter of 
Evan Rice Evans, Esquire, and their son, the first Brady that ever 
was killed in battle, fell at Antietam, in 1862. General Hugh Brady, 
who died in Detroit, in 1851. Jennie Brady, a twin sister, born 29th 
July, 1768. Robert, married afterwards to a daughter of Colonel 
WiUiam Cooke. Hannah. Liberty, born August 9, 1778, so called 
as she was the first child born to them after the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. She married William Dewart, and died without issue, 
July 25, 1 85 1. 

I copy here, in full, General Hugh Brady's account of the family, 
taken from an appendix to his funeral sermon by Reverend George 
Duffield, loaned me by Mrs. Nancy Eckert, of Lewisburg, grand- 
daughter of Captain John Brady : 

" I was born on the 29th day of July, 1 768, at the Standing Stone, 
in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and was the fifth son (they had 
six sons and four daughters) of John and Mary Brady. My brothers 
all lived to be men, in every sense of the term, and at a period 
when the qualities of men were put to the most severe and enduring 
tests. While I was yet a child, my father moved on to the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna river, and pitched his tent about eight 
miles above the town of Northumberland. At this time, (as well as 
in later periods,) titles to wild lands could be obtained by erecting 
a log-house, and by girdling a few trees, by way of improvement or 



220 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1783. 

cultivation. In this way, my father, John Brady, took up a vast 
quantity of land ; and, had he not fallen in the war of 1776, would 
have been one of the greatest land-holders in the State. But, owing 
to the dishonesty and mismanagement of those connected with him, 
his family received but little benefit from his exertions. Soon after 
the commencement of the war of 1776, he was appointed a captain 
in the twelfth Pennsylvania regiment ; and, in a few weeks having 
recruited his company, he joined the army, with which he remained 
until after the battle of Brandy wine. 

' 'At this time the Indians had become very troublesome in the set- 
tlements on the Susquehanna; so much so, that application was 
made to General Washington for regular troops to protect the fron- 
tier. Not being in a condition to spare any troops at that moment, 
he ordered home Captain John Brady, Captain Boone, and Lieuten- 
ants John and Samuel Dougherty, to use their influence in inducing 
the people to sustain themselves, until he could afford them other 
relief. And nobly did they execute his design. All that brave and 
experienced men could do, was done by them, even to sacrificing 
their lives in the defense of their country; for, in less than two 
years from that date. Captains Brady and Boone, and Lieutenant 
Samuel Dougherty, had fallen by the hands of the savages. Ten 
months before the death of Captain John Brady, his son James had 
fallen (in 1778) by the Indians. Another son, Samuel, was then an 
officer in the United States army. John was then at home, in charge 
of the family, and in his sixteenth year. 

"After the fall of Captain Brady, my mother removed, with her 
family, to her father's place in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, 
where she arrived in May, 1779, and where she remained till Octo- 
ber of that year. She then removed to Buffalo Valley, about twenty 
miles below our former residence, and settled on one of our own 
farms. We found the tenant had left our portion of the hay and 
grain, which was a most fortunate circumstance. The winter fol- 
lowing (1779 and 1780) was a very severe one, and the depth of the 
snow interdicted all traveling. Neighbors were few, and the settle- 
ment scattered, so that the winter was solitary and dreary to a most 
painful degree. But, while the depth of the snow kept us confined 
at home, it had also the effect to protect us from the inroads of the 
savages. But, with the opening of the spring, the Indians returned, 



1783.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 221 

m 

and killed some people not very remote from our residence. This 
induced Mrs. Brady to take shelter, with some ten or twelve families, 
on the West Branch, about three miles from our home.^ Pickets 
were placed around the houses, and the old men, women, and child- 
ren, remained within during the day ; while all who could work and 
carry arms, returned to their farms, for the purpose of raising some- 
thing to subsist upon. Many a day have I walked by the side of* 
my brother John, while he was plowing, and carried my rifle in one 
hand, and a forked stick in the other, to clear the ploughshare. 

" Sometimes my mother would go with us to prepare our dinner. 
This was contrary to our wishes ; but she said that, while she shared 
the dangers that surrounded us, she was more contented than when 
left at the fort. Thus we continued till the end of the war, when 
peace — happy peace — again invited the people to return to their 
homes. 

" In 1783, our mother was taken from us. In 1784, my brother 
John married, and, soon after, my eldest sister followed his example. 
All the children younger than myself lived with them. I went to 
the western country with my brother Captain Samuel Brady. He 
had been recently disbanded, and had married a Miss Swearingen, in 
Washington county, Pennsylvania. He took me to his house at that 
place, and I made it my home until 1792, when I was appointed an 
ensign in General Wayne's army. Previous to this, my brother had 
moved into Ohio county, Virginia, and settled a short distance above 
Charlestown. At that day, the Indians were continually committing 
depredations along the frontier. West of the Ohio the settlements 
were very sparse, and the people from the east side went frequently 
in pursuit of parties of marauding Indians who visited the neigh- 
borhood. 

" I joined with several parties in pursuit of Indians, but only met 
them once in action. This was, I think, on the 2 2d of May, 1791. 
Our spies in front had discovered a trail of Indians, about eight 
miles up Indian Cross-cut, making for the settlements. The next 
morning, ten citizens were met by Lieutenant Buskirk, with twelve 
State rangers, at the old Mingo town, and from there we went in 
pursuit. After following their trail till near sunset, we were fired 
on by the enemy, who lay concealed in a thicket. Lieutenant Bus- 

' At Jenkins' mill in East JbJuffalo. 



222 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1783. 

kirk was killed, and three men wounded. After a fight of about ten 
minutes, the Indians retreated, leaving one gun on the ground and 
much blood on the bushes. We pursued the party then till dark, 
but did not overtake them. The next day, we returned to the field 
with a large party ; and, about one hundred yards up the stream 
which had divided the combatants, we found twenty- two Indian 
• packs, showing that our party of twenty- two men had fought the 
same number of Indians. It was afterwards ascertained that eight 
of them died of wounds received before they reached their towns. I 
had a fair shot at the bare back of one of them. I do not know 
whether I hit him or not. He did not fall, and I think I was some- 
what excited. 

•' On the 5th of March following, 1 792, 1 was appointed an ensign 
in a rifle company, commanded by Captain John Crawford, a sol- 
dier of '76. William Clarke, of Kentucky, was the first lieutenant. 
I reported to my captain, and was put on the recruiting service. 
But, as the pay of a soldier was only $3 per month, I met with little 
success. Our clothing was also indifferent, and the feelings of the 
people generally averse to enlisting. They did not consider regu- 
lar soldiers the thing, exactly, to fight Indians. I then joined the 
headquarters of the army, at Legionville, the spot where Harmony 
now stands, twenty miles below Pittsburgh. The first duty I per- 
formed was on Christmas day, 1792, when I commanded a picket 
guard. The officer of the day, Major Mills, saw, at guard-mount- 
ing, that I was very green, and when he visited my guard, at twelve 
o'clock, he took much pains to instruct me. He also let me know 
at what hour at night the grand rounds would visit me. I had 
Baron Steuben's Tactics, and a good old sergeant, and was pretty 
well prepared to receive the rounds when they approached. 

"The major complimented me, and remained with me for some 
time. His treatment had the effect to inspire me with that confi- 
dence which is indispensable in a young officer, to enable him to 
perform any duty in a suitable manner. I then thought Steuben 
had nothing with which I was not familiar, and the confidence it 
gave me has unquestionably been of service to me up to the present 
day. The history and movements of that army are before the world ; 
but its sufferings and privations are only known to those who shared 
them, of which I had my full proportion. Our campaign in Canada, 



1783.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 223 

_ 

during the war of 181 2, was by no means interesting, and its priva- 
tions, &c., were the subject of much discussion. Compared with 
the campaign of General Wayne, it was all sunshine. At its close, 
I was left under the command of Colonel Hamtramck, at Fort 
Wayne. The force consisted of Captain Porter's company of artil- 
lery, Captains Kingsbury's, Grattan's, and Reed's companies of 
infantry, and Captain Preston's company of riflemen, to which I 
was attached. 

"During that winter, 1794-5, we lived very poorly. Our beef 
came to us on the hoof, and poor, and we had little or nothing to 
fatten them with. Having no salt to cure it, it was slaughtered, 
and hung up under a shed, where, by exposure, it became perfectly 
weather-beaten, and as tough as an old hide. Of course, it made a 
miserable soup. At the same time, our men received but half ra- 
tions of flour, and were working like beavers to complete our quar- 
ters. Thus we lived until about the middle of February, when a 
brigade of pack-horses arrived, loaded with flour and salt, and with 
them came a drove of hogs. From this time forward we considered 
ourselves as living on the 'fat of the land.' An early spring fol- 
lowed, and with it came ducks, geese, and trout, to improve our 
living ; and the Indians, soon after, came in with their flags to sue 
for peace ; and our time passed away pleasantly. The treaty was 
opened at Greenville on the 4th of July, 1795, ^^ which day I ar- 
rived at that place. I had been ordered there as a witness in the 
case of Captain Preston, who Avas tried for disobeying the orders of 
Colonel Hamtramck. The court sentenced him to be reprimanded, 
and the General laid it on pretty heavy. 

"I remained at headquarters till the treaty was concluded, and 
then returned to Fort Wayne. While at Fort Wayne, I received 
many letters from my brothers, urging me to resign. I had not 
seen them for ten years. Those letters held out the idea that 
they would make my fortune. That, (and a desire to return to the 
land of my early habits, and to see my brothers and sisters, who 
had grown from children to be men and women, and most of them 
married,) decided me to leave the service. I resigned my commis- 
sion and left Fort Wayne on the 20th of November, 1795, ^^^^ 
passed the next winter in Lexington, Kentucky. About the ist of 
March following, I rode through to Limestone, (Maysville.) I there 



234 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 1783. 

got into a quartermaster's boat, and, in about three weeks, landed 
at Wheeling, Virginia. I spent a few days with the widow of nxy 
brother Samuel, who had died on the Christmas previous. I then 
purchased a horse, and reached home about the 20th of July. I 
went first to Captain William Gray's, my brother-in-law. My sis- 
ter, Mrs. Gray, came to the door, and, as I inquired for Mr. Gray, 
she put on rather an important look, and replied : ' I presume you 
will find him at the store,' and turned into the parlor. I was about 
turning on my heel, when I heard steps in the entry, and, turning 
round, I saw my sister Hannah. She immediately raised her hands 
and exclaimed : ' My brother Hugh !' and flew into my arms. This 
was not a little surprising, as when she saw me last she could not 
have been more than eight years old. She knew me by my resem- 
blance to my twin sister, Jane. I found my connections all living 
happily, and moving at the head of society. I passed a happy three 
or four months with them, when I became weary of an idle life, and 
began to look for my promised fortune ; but, up to this day, have 
never been able to find it. I remained out of business till the win- 
ter of 1798 and 1799? when I was appointed a captain in Adams' 
army, and, in less than two years, was disbanded. My brother 
William, who had been most urgent for me to resign, now requested 
me to assist him to improve some wild lands he owned on the Ma- 
honing river, about fifty miles from Pittsburgh. We commenced 
this settlement in the spring of 1802, and, that summer, built a grist- 
mill and a saw-mill. All our breadstuff had to be carried about 
thirty miles on horseback. Meat I procured with my rifle, deer 
being plenty, and I could kill them without much loss of time from 
other business. 

"I married in 1805, and took my wife to our place in 1806, 
where Sarah and Preston were born. During the time we were 
there, we were happy, and had a plenty of such things as the coun- 
try afforded. All being on an equality, as regarded our resources, 
were not annoyed by the insolence of wealth. Still, I saw that my 
fortune could not be made there, and, in 1810, I returned, with 
my family, to Northumberland, and got along as well as I could, 
until 1 81 2, when the war again called me into service; since which 
time the Government has provided for me. I have rendered her 
some service, and, with my brother officers, have kept my shoulder 



1783.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 225 



to the wheel. This was no more than onr duty to a country which 
supports us, and of which we are justly proud. 

"Thus, I have given a sketch of my hfe, containing nothing un- 
usual or strange among those of my day and generation. But what 
a wonderful generation it has been — the most wonderful of any since 
the days of our Saviour ! 

"I have already stated that my brother James fell by the Indians, 
in 1778. It was in this manner : With ten or twelve others he went 
to help a neighbor harvest his wheat, about ten miles from the 
nearest station. On entering the field, they placed a sentinel at the 
most exposed point, and their arms convenient to their work. 
They had worked but a short time when the sentinel gave an alarm. 
They all ran to their arras, but it proved to be a false alarm. After 
reprimanding the sentinel for his unsoldierly conduct, they returned 
to their work; but they had not long been reaping when they heard 
the report of a rifle, and their sentinel was killed. Without noticing 
the conduct of others, my brother ran to his rifle, and as he stooped 
to pick it up, he received a shot which broke his arm. This caused 
him to fall forwards, and before he could recover, a stout Indian 
was upon him, tomahawked him, scalped him, and left him for dead. 
After the Indians left the field, my brother recovered and went to 
the house, where he found the rest of the reapers who had run from 
the field without their arms, and without making any attempt to de- 
fend or rescue him. They sent James to his parents, at _Sunbury, 
forty miles from the spot where he received his wound, which was 
on Saturday. He lived till the Thursday following, retained his 
senses, and related what is stated above. 

"James Brady was a remarkable man. Nature had done much 
for him. His person was fine. He lacked but a quarter of an inch 
of six feet, and his mind was as well finished as his person. I have 
ever placed him by the side of Jonathan, son of Saul, for beauty of 
person, and nobleness of soul, and like him, he fell by the hands of 
the Philistines. 

" My father was killed on the nth of April, 1779, not more than 
half a mile from his own house. He had left that morning at the 
head of a party of men, to move in a family that had wintered at 
their farm, about ten miles from my father's place. Having seen 
no sign of Indians, my father stopped at Wallis's Fort, and let the 
15 



226 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1783. 

party go on with the family. He was tlie only person mounted, 
and intended, soon, to overtake the party, but unfortunately for him, 
his family, and the settlement, he overtook a man who had fallen 
behind, and remained with him till the Indians shot him dead. The 
man escaped by mounting my father's horse, after he had fallen. 
It is a remarkable fact, that this man, Peter Smith, was in the field 
where my brother was killed, and afterwards, his own family was 
mostly destroyed by Indians, and he again escaped. After the war 
he settled in the Genesee country, and became a wealthy man. 
Some men are born to luck. 

[JNOTE. — It is worthy of notice, that although General Brady fre- 
quently sought, he was never successful in finding, the spot where 
his father was interred. One of his surviving daughters, Mrs. 
Backus, wife of Major Backus, was providentially made acquainted 
with the spot, during a visit (185 1) to the place of her grand- 
father's residence. An old revolutionary soldier,^ who was with the 
father of General Brady when he fell, and h9,d known and marked 
the place of his interment, a short time before her visit, had, on his 
death bed, requested to be buried beside his old captain, and desig- 
nated the spot. His request was granted, and there lie together in 
the woods, the captain and the private of his company, in a place 
where the inhabitants of the neighborhood intend, it is said, to erect 
an appropriate monument. — Geoi'ge Duffield, D. D.'\ 

"My brother John, in his fifteenth year, was in the battle of 
Brandywine, and was wounded. On the retreat he would have been 
captured had not his colonel, William Cooke, taken him up behind 
him. 

' ' John had gone to the army with my father, in order to take 
home the horses ridden out, and was directed by my father to return. 
But John heard from Ensign Boyd that a battle was expected to be 
fought soon. He, therefore, remained to see the fun ; and when 
my father took command of his company, on the morning of the 
battle, he found John in the ranks, with a big rifle by his side. My 
father was wounded in the battle. Ensign Boyd was killed, and John 
received a wound during the retreat. 

' ' As one good turn deserves another, two of my brothers, many 
years after, married two of the colonel's daughters. 

' Henry Lebo. 



1783.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 227 

" Captain Samuel Brady entered the army as a volunteer when 
he was nmeteen years of age, and joined General Washington at 
Boston. A year after, he was appointed a lieutenant, and returned 
home to recruit. He did not remain long. He belonged to Cap- 
tain John Doyle's company, Wayne's brigade, and was with him at 
the surprise of Paoli. In 1779, his regiment, the eighth Pennsyl- 
vania, was ordered to Pittsburgh. It was then commanded by Col- 
onel Brodhead. Soon after, my brother heard of his father's death ; 
and he waited, with impatience, for an opportunity to avenge it, on 
the Indians. Nor was the opportunity long delayed. The Indians 
had attacked a family and killed all in it, except a boy aged twelve, 
and his sister, ten. These were taken prisoners, and their father 
was absent from home at the time it occurred. 

"The place was thirty miles east of Pittsburgh, and it so hap- 
pened Samuel was out in that direction, and, hearing of it, he 
started in pursuit, having with him a friendly Indian, very useful as 
a guide. The second evening of the pursuit the party stopped on 
the top of a high hill, and the Indian guide pointed with his wiping 
stick to the foot of the hill, and said, ' The Red Bank runs there.' 
The men sat down, while the captain consulted with the Indian 
about his future movements. Suddenly, the Indian sprang to his 
feet, and said he smelt fire ; and soon after they saw the smoke 
curling above the trees, on the opposite side of the Red Bank. 

" The Indian said, ' They will sleep by that fire to night.' ' And 
I will awake them in a voice of thunder in the morning,' replied 
the captain. The Indian also said, ' After they smoke and eat, and 
the sun has gone to sleep, they will give the scalp halloo.' 

"With breathless impatience, the party watched the setting of 
the sun, and, as its light disappeared from the tops of the trees in 
the east, they heard seven distinct scalp halloos, with the usual whoop 
between each. After it was over. Cole, the Indian, observed, 
'There are fourteen warriors, and they have five scalps and two 
prisoners.' The night being clear and the weather mild, the cap- 
tain remained in his position till near morning, when he forded the 
stream above the Indians and posted his men, to await the crack of 
his rifle as the signal of attack. As day broke an Indian rose up 
and stirred the fire. The signal was given. The Indian standing 
pitched into the fire. The attack continued, and resulted in eight 



238 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1783. 

of the warriors being deprived of the pleasure of ever again giving 
the scalp halloo. When the captain got to the fire he found the 
children much alarmed. After quieting their fears, the boy asked 
for the captain's tomahawk, and commenced cutting off the head 
of the Indian that fell in the fire, observing that this was the leader 
of the party, and the man that killed and scalped his mother. The 
boy was permitted to finish the job he had commenced. 

" Three easy days' march brought the captain back to Pittsburgh. 
The father of the children was sent for to receive his lost ones. He 
showed much affection, on meeting his children, and thanked the 
captain for having restored them ; and then asked the captain what 
had become of his 'big basin.' It appeared the Indians had carried 
off, or destroyed, a big basin, from which Henry and his numerous 
family ate their sourkrout. The honest Dutchman thought there 
could be no impropriety in asking for it, of the man who had the 
best chance to know. 

"In 1804, the writer met Henry (the boy) at a friend's house, 
in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Henry had stopped, with a wagon, 
before the door, and had a barrel of cider for my friend, who, 
pointing to me, said, ' This gentleman is a brother of Captain Brady, 
who took you from the Indians.' Henry was assisting to remove 
the cider, and he gave me a side look for a moment, and then con- 
tinued his work. I felt hurt at the coldness he showed towards the 
brother of a man who had risked his life to rescue him from death 
or bondage, and to avenge the murder of his family. My friend 
informed me that Henry owned the farm from which he was cap- 
tured, and was as rich as any farmer in the county. I thought, 
then, if his circumstances were as easy as his manners, he probably- 
had at home, in the old family chest, as many dollars as would fill 
his father's big basin. 

"At the request of his colonel, Captain Brady visited the San- 
dusky towns, at the head of four or five men, and lay concealed 
over ten days, so that he could see all their movements. It was a 
time for horse racing among the Indians, and men, women, children, 
and dogs were all in attendance. A gray horse was the winner 
until the evening of the second day, when they compelled him to 
carry two riders, (a new way to handicap,) when he was finally 
beaten. The Indians then retired from the field. That evening 



1783.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 22g 

Captain Brady took two squaws prisoners, and started for home. 
On the second day of their journey they were overtaken by a fright- 
ful thunder storm, which destroyed their provisions, and destroyed 
most of their powder, having but tlaree or four loads of good pow- 
der left in a priming horn. The stormy weather continued several 
days. After it cleared away, the captain, just before night, went 
ahead of his party, hoping to kill some game, as they were without 
provisions. The party was then traveling on an Indian trail. He 
had not gone far when he met a party of Indians returning from the 
settlements, with a woman and child, prisoners. The captain shot 
the leader of the party, rescued the woman, and endeavored to ob- 
tain the child, that was strapped to the back of the Indian he had 
shot. But he had not time to do so, as the Indians had ascertained 
that he was alone, and had returned to their leader. He was, there- 
fore, compelled to fall back, and he took the woman with him. His 
men, seeing the Indians, and supposing the captain was killed, made 
their way to the nearest fort, and let the squaw run away. The 
other squaw had escaped during the great thunder storm'. The next 
day he met a party coming from Fort Mcintosh, to bury him, his 
men having reported him killed. A few days after, he returned 
with a party to the battle ground, and found the dead Indian. 

"In 1835, the writer met, at the town of Detroit, a son of the 
boy that was strapped to the back of the Indian. He informed me 
that after Wayne's treaty, his father was delivered up, at Pittsburgh, 
by the Indians. When the land west of the Ohio came into market, 
his father bought the lot on which the affair took place, and built his 
house, as near as he could ascertain, on the spot where the Indian 
fell, and lived there till eighteen months prior to our conversation, 
when he was killed by the falling of a tree. His name was Stupps, 
and he was a fine looking man. I remember his grandmother's 
name was Jane Stupps, and I have often heard my brother relate 
the above story. 

" On the Beaver river is a place known as Brady's Bend, where 
he had a hard fight, and killed many of the enemy, with small loss on 
his own side. His enterprising disposition and his skill in stratagems, 
in which he equaled any Indian, enabled him to do more towards 
protecting the frontier than all his regiment besides. Indeed, he 
was looked upon by the whole country as their surest protector, and 



230 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1783. 

all the recompense he ever received was in a reward of I500, being 
offered by Governor McKean for his person, for having, in 1791, 
killed a party of Indians on Brady's run, thirty miles below Pitts- 
burgh. He surrendered himself for trial, and was honorably acquit- 
ted ; he having proved, to the satisfaction of the court and jury, 
that those Indians had killed a family on the head of Wheeling 
creek, Ohio county, Virginia. That, on receiving notice of the 
murder, he suspected those Indians had come out of Pennsylvania. 
He, therefore, crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Wheeling, and 
by steering west, came on the trail, and pursued it to where he 
attacked them. 

" When General Wayne arrived at Pittsburgh, in 1792, he sent for 
Captain Brady, who lived in Ohio county, Virginia, and gave him 
command of all the spies then in the employ of the Government, 
amounting to sixty or seventy men. The captain so disposed of 
them that not a depredation was committed on the frontier. On the 
contrary, three or four times the Indians were surprised in their own 
country, thirty or forty miles in advance of the white settlements. 
His plan of carrying the war into the Indian country put a stop to 
all murders on that frontier. He continued in command of these 
rangers until the period of his death, which occurred on Christmas 
day, 1795, at his house, about two miles west of West Liberty, Vir- 
ginia, (in the thirty-ninth year of his age.) His disease was pleu- 
risy. He left a widow and two sons. 

"Never was a man more devoted to his country, and few, very 
few, have rendered more important services, if we consider the 
nature of the service, and the part performed by him personally. 
He was five feet eleven and three fourths inches in heighth, with a 
perfect form. He was rather light ; his weight exceeding at no time, 
one hundred and sixty-eight pounds. As I have said before, there 
were six brothers, viz: Samuel, James, John, William P., Hugh, 
and Robert. There was but half an inch difference in .our heights. 
John was six feet and an inch, and I was the shortest of them all. 
Is it not remarkable that I, who was considered the most feeble of 
all, should outlive all my brothers, after having been exposed to 
more dangers and vicissitudes than any, except Samuel ? Is it not a 
proof that there is, from the beginning, ' a day appointed for man 
to die?' It is said, ' the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the 



1784.] ANNALB OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 231 

Strong, but safety is of the Lord.' That has ever been my beUef." 
Among the deaths this year, Wilham McCandhsh, senior, of Buf- 
falo. (Will dated nth September. Children: Peter, Johii, George j 
Grizzelda, William, junior, Jennette, Alexander, and Martin. Mr. 
McCandlish lived on the place now owned and occupied by John 
Lesher, in Buffalo township.) William Greenlee, and in November, 
Mathias Trinkle, (of Union now.) 

In 1783 the people generally returned to the Valley. Mr. Allen 
having died, Mr. McClenachan became sole elder of the Buffalo 
Cross-Roads church until his death, in June, 1784, when the con- 
gregation was without an elder until 1787, when Matthew Laird, 
who had been an elder in Big Spring, came to reside within the con- 
gregation. — Doctor Grier's Sermon. 



h- 



ir»4. 




Joe Disbury — Bear's Mill (now Hoffa's) Erected — Flood of 1784 — 
Captain Lowdon's Roll — Death of Colonel Samuel Hunter. 

OUNCIL of Censors, General James Potter, vice Samuel 
Hunter, deceased. Members of Assembly, elected in 
October, Frederick Antes, Daniel Montgomery, and Sam- 
uel Dale. Henry Spyker, Esquire, was a Representative 
for Berks county. Presiding Judge, John Buyers. Sheriff, Henry 
Antes. Lieutenant of the county, William Wilson, vice Samuel 
Hunter, deceased. Collector of Excise, Alexander Hunter, vice Wil- 
liam Wilson, resigned. County Commissioner, Walter Clark, qual- 
ified at November Term. 

The celebrated thief, Joe Disbury, was tried. On his jury were 
Adam Grove, Michael Grove, William Clark and Adam Christ. His 
sentence was severe : That he should receive thirty-nine lashes, be- 
tween the hours of eight and nine to-morrow, stand in the pillory 



232 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1784. 

one hour, have his ears cut off and nailed to the post, that he be im- 
prisoned three months, and pay a fine of ^,^30 to the President of the 
State, for' the use of the Government. [See his history in Meginness.] 
George Herrold this year opened the " Herrold Tavern," on the 
river below Selinsgrove, and Captain Anthony Selin the first hotel 
in Selinsgrove. In September, John Bear, of Lancaster, bought the 
Hoffa Mills, (now) property of William Charters, and erected the first 
grist-mill there. The saw-mill he added in 1 787 ; and in 1 790 he had 
four mills (grist, clover, oil and saw-mill) there. 

Additional Residents in White Deer Tow7iship in 1784. 

Allison, David j Ant, Jacob; Bennett, Justice; Bennett, Ephraim; 
Bennett, Thaddeus ; Bentley, Green ; Brown, John; Brown, Joseph; 
Brown, widow, Elinor ; Buchanan, David ; Buchanan, James ; Bu- 
chanan, James, junior ; Buchanan, WiUiam ; Campbell, Alexander; 
Carnahan, Robert; Creal, Michael; Daugherty, Daniel; Davis, Wil- 
liam; Dodds, Andrew; Dunlap, William ; Feager, widow ; Fisher, 
Paul; Fisher, Paul, (single;) Fisher, Henry; Gillespie, Captain 
Charles ; Gilman, Philip ; Gray, George ; Gray,^ Neigal, grist-mill, 
formerly Titzel's ; Heany, Hieronymus ; Heany, Frederick ; Heany, 
Philip ; Huston, Samuel ; Iddings. Samuel ; Iddings, Samuel, 
(single;) Jordan, William; Jordan, Andrew; Judge, William; Kerk- 
endale, Hermaii; Landon, Nathaniel; Lean, Abraham; Lean, Han- 
nah; Low, widow; McComb, John; McCracken, Mary; McLanahan, 
David ; McLanahan, widow ; Moore, John ; Moore, John, junior ; 
Moore, George ; Morrison, Samuel ; Montgomery, Samuel ; Perry, 
Thomas ; Plants, Jacob ; Poak, widow, Mary ; Potter, James, Es- 
quire; Ramsey, John; Rodman, widow, Martha; Sheaffer, Nicho- 
las : Tenbrooke, John ; Turner, Robert ; Vandyke, John ; Welsh, 
Nicholas; Welsh, Ludwig. (William Wilson, William Gray, and 
William Clark, assessors.) 

In a memorial, on file at Harrisburg, signed by Robert Martin and 
John Franklin, they state "that on the 15th of March, 1 784, the Sus- 
quehanna rose into a flood, exceeding all degrees ever before known ; 
that its rise was so sudden as to give no time to guard against its 
mischief; that it swept away about one hundred and fifty houses, 

' Neigal Gray was lieutenant colonel of twelfth Pennsylvania, Continental Line, 
appointed from Northampton county. 



J784.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 233 

with all the provision, house furniture, and farming tools and cattle 
of the owners, and gave but just opportunity for the inhabitants to 
fly for their lives ; that, by this dreadful calamity, one thousand per- 
sons are left destitute of provisions, clothing, and every means of life. " 

Micster-RoU of Captain John Lowdon's Company of Northumber- 
land County Volunteers who marched to Suppress the Riot at 
Wyomifig, by Orders of the Supreme Executive Council, August 

4, 1784- 

Captain — Lowdon, John. 

Lieutenant — ^Vancampen, Moses. 

Ensign — Grove, Michael. 

Sergeants — Snyder, Frederick; Vancampen, Garret. 

Privates— Adams, John; Allen, John; Antes, William; Arm- 
strong, Hamilton; Armstrong, John; Backinstow, John; Baker, 
William ; Boo, George ; Busher, John ; Calhoon, Matthew ; Camp- 
ble, Andrew ; Champ, John ; Clark, William ; Clingman, Jacob ; 
Crawford, Edward; Crawford, James; Bering, Stophel ; Doyle, 
Samuel ; Drake, Samuel ; Emmons, Alexander ; Eply, Leonard ; 
Ewing, Jasper: Ewing, John; Fowler, Eshel ; Fowler, Nathan; 
Gillespie, Charles; Gibbons, Alexander; Giles, Thomas; Good- 
heart, Henry ; Goodman, Daniel ; Gettig, Stophel ; Grant, Thomas; 
Gregg, Andrew; Gregg, John; Gregg, William; Hamilton, Thomas; 
Hammond, David ; Hammond, James ; Harris, John ; Harris, Sam- 
uel ; Hepburn, James ; Hessler, Michael ; Hilman, James ; Hunter, 
Alexander; Johes7john ; Keel, John; Keel, Philip; Lamison, Ja- 
cob ; Lougan, David ; Ludwick, John ; Lyon, Benjamin ; Marshall, 
John ; Martin, Benjamin ; Martin, Thomas ; McCoy, Neale ; Mc- 
Kinney, Abraham ; Meads, Ely ; Moreland, Thomas ; Morrow, 
James; Ogdon, John; Pearson, George; Rees, Thomas; Robins, 
Zack ; Rope, Michael ; Rurer, Frederick ; Salomin, John ; Shaffer, 
Adam ; Shaffer, Henry ; Smith, Jacob ; Steuart, William ; Stout, 
John ; Teterly, George ; Vanderslice, Henry ; Volin, Leonard ; 
Webb, William ; Weitgur, John ; Weitzel, Jacob ; Wheeler, John ; 
Wilkeson, Joseph; Wilkeson, William; Wilson, James; Young, 
John. 

One sergeant and twelve men, two days guarding the prisoners 
at Sunbury. 



234 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1784. 

I do hereby certify the above muster-roll to be just \ without fraud 
to the State of Pennsylvania, or any individual, according to my 
best knowledge. 

John Lowdon, Captain. 

Mustered the above company as specified in the above roll. 

W. Wilson, 
Lieutenant Northumberland County. 
August 9, 1784. 

Deaths. 

April 10, Colonel Samuel Hunter died, aged fifty-two. His grave 
is near the site of Fort Augusta, which he so heroically defended. 
His will is dated the 29th of March, and proved the 21st of June. 
His wife's name was Susanna Scott, sister of Abraham Scott, 
formerly member from Lancaster. Colonel Hunter was from the 
county of Donegal, Ireland, and when he died had a mother and 
two brothers still living there. He left two daughters, Mary and 
Nancy, minors, i. Mary, married Samuel Scott, who died before 
her, leaving children, Samuel H. Scott, Sarah, Susanna. Samuel 
Scott lived on what is now the Cake farm, and was drowned. He 
was a son of Abraham Scott, who lived on the island which he had 
purchased of Mungo Reed, the original owner. Abraham Scott 
died there in August, 1 798, leaving a widow, Sarah, and children, 
Samuel, (above,) Mary, wife of General William Wilson, after- 
wards of Chillisquaque Mills, Susanna, and Sarah. Susanna mar- 
ried Rose. Their daughter, Isabella, is the widow of Hon- 
orable Robert C. Grier, late Justice of the United States Supreme 
Court. 2. Nancy, married her cousin, Alexander Hunter, who 
died in June, 1810, leaving her also a widow, and children, Mary, 
Elizabeth, Nancy, and Samuel. 

Henry Vandyke, formerly of Hanover township, Lancaster 
county, leaving a widow, Elizabeth; children, Lambert, John, 
Sarah, Hannah, Mary, and Elizabeth. He resided on the second 
farm east of Buffalo Cross-Roads, now Jackson Rishel's. 

John Forster, of Buffalo, (will proved 24th October.) He left 
a widow, Margaret ; eldest son, Thomas, grandfather of Mrs. Mark 
Halfpenny ; second son, Andrew ; eldest daughter, Christena, mar- 
ried to John Montgomery ; Robert Forster was his youngest son ; 



1785.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 235 



Jane, second wife of William Irvine; Elizabeth Gray, and Rebecca 
McFarland. Robert was the father of the late Captain John Fors- 
ter, of Mififiinburg. 

Simon Himrod, elder in the Dreisbach church, and late member 
of Assembly. He resided in Turbut. His descendants live near 
Waterford, Erie county, Pennsylvania. 

James McClenachan, (in June.) Widow, Sarah; daughters, Mar- 
garet, Elizabeth ; sons, Robert, David, and Andrew. 



1^85. 




Lewisburg laid out by Ludwig Derr — Bounds of — ^^Fall Election — 
Washington Township Erected — Widow Smith's Petition — Militia 
Officers. 

I ICE PRESIDENT, Charles Biddle. William Montgom- 
ery, Presiding Justice. Justices, 24th January, Simon 
Snyder, Wilham Irwin ; Colonel John Kelly, in August, 
and William Wilson. Sheriff, Thomas Grant, elected in 
October. Walter Clark, John Clarke^ and William Gray, all of 
Buffalo, County Commissioners. 

Representatives declared elected : Frederick Antes, Samuel Dale, 
and William Maclay, over Daniel Montgomery, John Weitzel, and 
Anthony Selin. General Potter, William Maclay, William Mont- 
gomery, junior, William Gray, and Joseph J. Walhs, Deputy Sur- 
veyors in the " old purchase." Lawyers admitted : John W. Kittera, 
John Clark, and John Reily, all officers of the war of the Revolu- 
"don. "Vannost, suspended at February term, for treating the justices 
with contempt, re-admitted at May term. 

Of Buffalo officers : Constable, John Thompson ; quota of State 
tax, ^^194; county, ^45. 

Among the Buffalo taxables loere : Armstrong, William, tan-yard ; 



2j6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1785. 

Baldy, Christopher ; Barber, Robert, Esquire, who moved from near 
Wrightsville ; Billmyer, Andrew ; Brown, John ; Burd, David, who 
lived where Sherry now lives, in the same township; Chri st, Ad a.m j^ 
Colpetzer, Adam, who lived where Jacob Engle now lives, in Lime- 
stone ; Douglass, William ; Evans, Daniel ; Everett, Abel ; Giles, 
Isaac; Haughawaut, Leffard ; Huston, Robert; Jenkins, Morgan ; 
Knox, George, tan-yard ; Laughlin, Adam ; Mucklehenny, John ; 
Voneida,' Philip, who purchased of John Crider part of the Cap- 
tain Kern's tract, (late Peter Voneida place.) 

Single Men in Buffalo Township, in 1785 — Allison, Archibald 
Bann, Lewis; Beatty, David; Black, William; Black, Thomas 
Books, George ; Clark, John ; Cosaith, George ; Cough, Adam 
Cox, Tunis ; Dale Henry ; Dale, Christian ; Derr, George ; Dreis- 
bach, Martin; Goodman, John; Gilkeson, a tailor; Iddings, Wil- 
liam ; Ingram, John ; Jenkins, Morgan ; Katherman, George ; Leon- 
ard, Peter; Lewis, Paschall; Lowdon, Richard; McGahey, Neal ; 
McGrady, Captain Samuel ; Mook, John ; Rearick, John ; Reese, 
John ; Rees, Daniel ; Scott, William ; Shively, Henry ; Stewart, 
Archibald; Taylor, Christopher; Templeton, David; Thompson, 
John ; Vanvalzen, Levi ; Waggoner, Christopher ; Wilson, Samuel ; 
Youngman, George. Joseph Green, John Aurand, and Thomas 
Forster, assessors ; which list they returned the 4th of January, 17.86. 

Among the Residents in White Deer were — Allen, Robert; Bear, 
John; Coulter, Nathaniel; Eaker, Doctor Joseph; Lacock, John; 
Leckey, John; McAllister, Archibald ; McGinnes, James; McCorley, 
Robert, taxed with negro girl; Marshall, Widow; Potter, General 
James, negro and one servant ; Vandyke, John, junior, (Widow Smith, 
grist-mill.) In 1785, William Blythe's name disappears from the 
assessment list, and the two tracts, taken up in his daughters' names, 
are taxed to his sons-in-law. Captain Charles Gillespie and Doctor 
Eakers. Daniel Lewis' name disappears, and Paschall Lewis ap- 
pears in its place. His wife, who was Margaret Paschall, was a 
relative of Thomas Paschall, a hatter, of Philadelphia, who owned a 
great amount of wild lands, was married three times ; first to a man 
named Watson, by whom she had Jesse, James, (who built Seebold's 
mill,) and John Watson, all settlers in the Valley. Second, to Ma- 
thers, by whom she had Samuel Mathers and Thomas, also early 
settlers ; and third to Daniel Lewis, father of Paschall. One of the 



1785.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 237 

Mathers once went to Philadelphia to get his share of the fortune. 
He got as his share — a lot of hats — enough to hat the whole Valley, 
nearly. 

Among the Feuft's Taxables were — Arbogast, John ; Dreis, Jacob ; 
Herrold, Simon, ferry and grist-mill ; Miller, Dewalt, sa^v-mill ; 
Pontius, John ; Pontius, Peter ; Schoolmaster, Abel ; Shipton, 
Thomas; Shisley, Jacob, Sinclair, Duncan; Smith, David; Selin 
& Snyder, store, negro slave, and forty acres of land ; Speakman, 
James; Stoll, Mathias; Swineford, John; Vanhorn, Daniel; Weiand, 
Jacob ; Witmer, Peter, with ferry. 

In March, 1785, Ludwig Derr laid out the town of Lewisburg. 
Samuel Weiser, of Mahanoy township, was the surveyor, and for his 
services received lot No. 5, on which is now erected the store of 
Walls, Smith & Co., 1870. His first donation of lots was for reli- 
gious purposes. 26th March, he, with Catherine, his wife, conveyed 
lots Nos. 42, 44, and 46 to Walter Clark, William Gray, and William 
Wilson, in trust for the Presbyterian congregation at or near Lewis- 
burg, for a meeting-house and burying-ground. 

William Maclay made the survey of the tract the town stands on 
the 28th of February, 1769. Ludwig Derr lived upon it as early as 
1770. It was patented on the nth of August, 1772, to Reverend 
Richard Peters, who conveyed, on the 17th of September, 1773, to 
Ludwig Derr, by the following description, "containing three hun- 
dred and twenty acres, situated at the mouth of Spring run, below 
and adjoining the mouth of Buffalo creek." Weiser's survey was as 
follows : 

The southern boundary commenced at a post at the river, at the 
the corner of the tract on which the mill is erected;, thence along 
the land of the said Derr, S. 80 1^^ W. 121 perches 2^4 feet, to a 
stone; thence N. about 10^ ° W. 164 perches, to a stone; thence 
N. about 8oj4° E. about 139 perches 2^ feet, to a post or stake, 
by the north-west side of Buffalo creek ; thence down the creek to its 
mouth, and thence down the river to the place of beginning, and con- 
tained about one hundred and twenty-eight acres, which was divided 
into three hundred and fifty-five lots. 

By the act of the 31st of March, 181 2, which incorporated " the 
president and directors of the streets, lanes, and alleys of the town 
of Lewisburg," the charter bounds commenced at the south side 



/ 



238 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1785. 

of the mouth of Lyman's (formerly called Derr's) run, and ran 
thence up the south side of the run, including the said run in its 
meanders, to the line of George Derr's land ; thence along the same 
to the fording of Buffalo creek ; thence down the south side thereof 
to the river, and down the river to the place of beginning. And by 
the act of the 21st of March, 1822, incorporating "the borough 
of Lewisburg," the bounds were still further increased southerly, as 
they commenced at the river, at a corner of Jacob Zentmeyer and 
Margaret Spidler's land, and ran along the same N. 52° W. 62 
perches, to a pine ; thence, the same course, by land then of Wil- 
liam Shaw, James Bennet, James Geddes, George Berryman, and 
WiUiam Hayes, 236 perches, to a pine on land of George Derr. 
From this pine the line ran N. 2° W. 208 perches, to the creek; 
thence down the creek and river to the beginning. 

Ludwig Derr made a lottery the same year, and disposed of some 
of the lots in this way, among the rest, lot No. 21, corner Fourth 
and Market, on which (1877) Doctor Howard Wilson is now resid- 
ing, was drawn by John Brown, and for which he paid three pounds, 
as appears by the deposition of John Hennig, taken before Colonel 
John Kelly, on the 2d of May, 1791. 

The very first lot sold was No. 351, corner of Water and St. 
Lewis, to WiUiam Wilson, 26th March. 

The first residents of Lewisburg were Bolinger, John ; Conser, 
Henry, (Reverend S. L. M. Conser is a grandson;) Dering, God- 
frey, (removed to Selinsgrove ; one of his descendants was post- 
master there;) Evans, Joseph, cabinet-maker, (descendants still in 
Lewisburg;) Leonard, Peter, (descendants still in Lewisburg;) 
Long, Edward ; Smith, Nicholas ; Welker, Jacob, tailor, (moved to 
Mifiiinburg, and died there.) [See 1 788, for a description of Lewis- 
burg at that time.] In September, Ludwig Derr went to Philadel- 
phia to sell lots. The date of his death there is not known. The 
last deed he signed is dated October 1 8. December 9, George Derr, 
^Walter Clark^ and John Weitzel, administered upon his estate. He 
left a widow, Catherine, who survived him a very short time, and 
only one heir, George Derr. September 13, Northumberland county 
divided into four election districts, Buffalo, White Deer, and Potter in 
the third, and held their elections at Fought's Mill, (near Mifflinburg.) 
August sessions, Washington township, now partly in Lycoming, 



1785.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ' 23g 

erected, the division line commencing a short distance above Widow 
Smith's mills, thence west, along the south side of White Deer creek, 
to where Spruce run commences. It was a mere sub-division of 
White Deer township, calling the northern division Washington. 
The following is a list of the inhabitants of Washington, as thus 
erected : 

Bennett, Ephraimj Bennett, Justice; Bennett, Thaddeus; Ben- 
nett, Abraham ; Bennett, William ; Bently, Green ; Brown, Charles; 
Brown, Judson ; Brown, William ; Caldwell, William ; Creal, Mi- 
chael ; Coats, widow; Eason, Robert ; Emmons, John ; Emmons, 
Jacob; Emmons, Jacob, (single;) Gray, William, junior; Green, 
Ebenezer ; Harley, John ; Hendrick, Nathan ; Hickendoll, Her- 
man ; Hood, Moses; Huling, Marcus ; Hunter, widow ; Laiidon, 
Nathaniel ; Layn, Abraham ; Layn, Isaac ; Low, Cornelius, senior 
and junior ; McCormick, Seth ; McCormick, Thomas ; Mackey, Wil- 
liam ; Mitchell, John ; Ramsey, John ; Reynolds, Joseph ; Shaffer, 
Nicholas ; Stephen, Adam ; Strieker, John ; Sunderland, Daniel ; 
Tenbrooke, John ; Towsend, Gradius ; Towsend, Gamaliel ; Weeks, 
Jesse. Assessors : William Gray, Joseph Allen, and Thomas Mc- 
Cormick, 

The fall election for members of the House was contested. Paul 
Baldy, John Macpherson, and Samuel Quinn, among others, went to 
Philadelphia as witnesses. The officer reported Richard Sherer, a wit- 
ness, absent, and John Gray, another, gone to Fort Pitt. It appears, 
by the report of the committee, that Frederick Antes had 41 4 votes, 
Daniel Montgomery 410, Samuel Dale 414, William Maclay 407, 
John Weitzel 396, Anthony Selin 297. Daniel Montgomery was 
ousted, and William Maclay put in, upon a tie vote, the Speaker 
deciding. Twenty-five members signed a protest against these pro- 
ceedings, which seem to have been dictated by party rancor, for the 
protestants say the reason of the contest was, that in one district the 
names of the electors on the poll-list were ten short of the number 
of tickets received by the inspectors, and that the testimony ac- 
counted for this defect. They contended that the whole election 
should have been set aside ; that the vote of the House was destruct- 
ive to the rights of the people, and an unwarrantable usurpation, of 
a very dangerous character. 

In a petition to the Assembly of this year by Catherine jgmith. 



240 ■ ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1785. 

indorsed, read December 8, 1785, she sets forth "that she was left 
a widow, with ten children, with no estate to support this family, 
except a location for three hundred acres of land, including the 
mouth of White Deer creek, whereon is a good mill-seat; and a grist 
and saw-mill being much wanted in this new country, at that time, 
she wast often solicited to erect said mills. At length, in 1774, she 
borrowed money, and in June, 1775, completed the mills, which 
were of great advantage to the country, and the following summer 
built a boring-mill, where a great number of gun-barrels were bored' 
for the continent, and a hemp-mill. The Indian war soon after 
coming on, (one of her sons, her greatest help, went into the army, 
and, it is believed, was killed, as he never returned,) the said mills 
soon became a frontier, and in July, 1779, the Indians burned the 
whole works. She returned to the ruins in 1783, and was again 
solicited to re-build the grist and saw-mills; which she has, with 
much difficulty, accomplished, and now ejectments are brought 
against her by Messrs. Claypool and Morris, and she, being now 
reduced to such low circumstances as renders her unable to support 
actions at law, and, therefore, prays relief," &c. The facts set forth 
in this memorial are certified to by William Blythe, Charles Gilles- 
pie, Colonel John Kelly, James Potter, the younger, and many 
other citizens of Northumberland county. 

The Legislature, of course, could grant no relief, under the cir- 
cumstances, and the petition was dismissed. How long the litiga- 
tion went on I am unable to determine; but in 1801, Seth Iredell 
took possession of the premises as tenant of Claypool e and Morris. 
She is said to have walked to Philadelphia and back thirteen times 
on this business. Her house was where Doctor Danousky now 
(1874) lives, on the Henry High place, part of the old stone house 
being still used as a kitchen. She was buried in the old settlers' 
grave-yard, which was at the corner of the Dan Caldwell barn. 
Her bones were disturbed in Mr. Caldwell's time, in erecting a 
sheep-pen, and were identified by old Mr. Huff, by her peculiar 
projecting teeth. Some years since, an old man came to the place 
and desired to look about the old dwelling. He spent several hours 
about the place. When leaving, said he had come in from Ohio to 
see it ; that he was a son of Catherine Smith, and that if justice had 
been done her, they would still own the place. Roily McCorley, 



1786.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 241 



who recollects the mill last built by her, said it was a small, round 
log mill. 

Field Officers Elected in April. 

First Battalion — Peter Hosterman, lieutenant colonel; Christo- 
pher Gettig, major. 

Fifth Battahon — John Kelly, lieutenant colonel; Thomas Forster, 
major. 

Company Officers of the Fifth. 

Captains — Michael Andrews, William Clark, John Thompson, 
Joseph Poak, Joseph Green, Samuel McGrady, James Potter, junior, 
John Macpherson. 

Lieutenants — Adam Harper, Joseph Eaker, James Irwin, Samuel 
Iddings, Henry Pontius, Jacob Dreisbach, John Brown, M. Wild- 
goose. 

Ensigns — Joseph Price, George Clark, George Books, James 
Moore, J. Hunter, James Templeton. 



1^86. 



Slaves in the Valley — Pickering's Visit at G-eneral Potter's— Buf- 
falo Valley Soldiers at Saratoga — First Folling-Mill Erected. 

' RESIDENT of the State, Benjamin Franklin. Member 
of Council, William Maclay. Members of Assembly, 
Frederick Antes and Samuel Dale. Lawyers admitted : 
on examination, John Andre Hanna and Charles Smith ; 
on motion, John Joseph Henry and Jacob Hubley. 

Buffalo, Officers— Collector, George May ; Constable, John Cri- 
der; Supervisors, George Rote and Leonard Welker; Overseers, 
John Aurand and Samuel Mathers. 

Among the taxables — Carney, Anthony ; Moore, James, tailor ; 
16 






242 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1786. 

Ohrendorf, Henry ; Piper, Henry ; Potts, David ; Stephens, Wil- 
liam ; Straub, Jacob ; Swartzcope, Anthony ; Pool, William, ferry 
at Macpherson's. Single Men : Getz, Adam ; Grove, Philip ; 
Holmes, Jonathan. 

In Lewisburg, additional residents — Armor, Thomas ; Hammersly, 
John; Roan, Flavel; Snodgrass, David; Steele, Alexander; Troxel, 
George ; Williams, William. 

White Deer — Bear, Isaac; Coburn, John; High, Rudolph; 
Sherer, Thomas ; Sims, William. 

Penn's — Auple, Jonas; Bolender, Adam, junior; Bossier, George; 
Businger, Conrad ; Dauberman, Christian ; Devore, Abram ; Gar- 
mon, John; Gemberling, Jacob ; Giltner, Jacob ; Gross, Henry; 
Gruber, Christian ; Mertz, Philip ; Nerhood, Henry ; Winkelpleck, 
Henry. 

In the Valley, Eli Holman, Samuel Hunter, and John Linn are 
each taxed with female slaves. From the bill of sale, it appears John 
Linn purchased his slave, called "■ Judy," of John McBeth, of Ches- 
ter county, on the loth of April, 1786. After residing fifty-eight 
years in the Valley, she removed with John Linn's (second) family 
to Knox county, Ohio, and died near Mount Vernon, in that county, 
November 4, 1855, upward of one hundred years old. 

In March, George Derr and his mother sold George Langs the 
ground between the railroad bridge and the site of the old wagon 
bridge. It is not included in the town plan of Lewisburg, or laid 
out in lots by number. At the same time, William Williams bought 
No. 343, in Lewisburg, built a stone house, still standing, (Martin 
Hahn's,) and a frame store-room, adjoining it on the south, and 
opened the first regular store in the town. 

At May sessions, C. Van Gundy was bound over for forcible entry, 
&c., renewing the old controversy with George Derr, Ludwig'sson. 

In the life of Colonel T. Pickering, volume 2, page 251, is a letter 
from him, dated August 12, 1786, "at Philip Francis',, about a mile 
above the mouth of Muncy creek, and three miles below Mr. Wal- 
lis'," in which he states Mr, Wallis was to go with him to make sur- 
veys in Wyoming. "As Mr. Wallis was not ready, we spent two 
nights and one day at General Potter's, where we were kindly enter- 
tained." On the 15th he adds : " We were to set off for Tioga, but 
my horse has wounded himself. I am going down to General Pot- 



1786.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 243 

ter's to borrow or purchase another." This proves clearly that Gen- 
eral Potter then resided on the Ard farm, just above New Columbia. 
At August sessions, Andrew Billmyer's tavern was licensed. He 
kept two miles up the Valley, where his grandson, John Lesher, now 
lives. Magdalena Pohlhemus, an indentured servant to E. Younk- 
man, presented a petition to court to be allowed her freedom dues ; 
and after giving due notice, the court ordered Mr. Younkman to 
pay her five dollars down, and three dollars next May, as freedom 
dues for seven year's service. 

23d September, an orphans' court was held at the house of Flavel 
Roan, (at the mouth of Buffalo creek,) before William Irwin and 
John Kelly, justices, when the applications of George Martin and 
Samuel McClurgan for pensions were considered. They belonged 
to Colonel Cooke's twelfth regiment, but were drafted into Colonel 
Daniel Morgan's riflemen, sent to resist Burgoyne. They were 
wounded at Saratoga, in October, 1777. 

In September, George Derr sold Flavel Roan and Sankey Dixon 
the ground between St. John's street and St. Anthony's, along the 
creek. Sankey and Ann, his wife, sold out to Roan, and went on 
West. Sankey had been sergeant and ensign all through the war, in 
sixth Pennsylvania regiment. He died at Nashville, Tennessee, in 
1 81 4. Roan then kept the ferry, two years before it had been leased 
to Henry Conser, who sold to Stephen Duchman, the latter to Roan. 
Christopher Weiser built the first fulling-mill in the Valley, on Tur- 
tle creek, on what is now Peter Wolfe's place, and James Watson 
built the first grist-mill, erected at Seebold's, above New Berlin. 

Deaths. 

Catharine, widow of Ludwig Derr. 

Captain John Forster, often mentioned in Brady's adventures. 
His old log house stood to the left of the road to Hoffa's mills, be- 
yond Rishel's stone house. He left a widow, Jane. First son, James, 
afterwards married to a daughter of William Clark, to whom he 
willed the old place. James moved to Ohio. His son John, who lived 
in Brush valley, was the father of Mrs. William C. Duncan, of 
Lewisburg. Second son, William, a bachelor, said to be the first 
white child born in the Valley. Third, John Forster, so long a part- 
ner of James Duncan, at Aaronsburg. (Descendants : Sarah, mar- 



244 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. .[1787. 

ried to William Vanvalzah; Emeline, to S. S. Barber; Margaret, 
to Doctor Charles Wilson ; Jane, to R. B. Barber, Esquire.) Fourth, 
daughters : Agnes, Margaret, and Dorcas. 

James Jenkins, aged eighty-two, left widow, Phoebe, and sons 
William and James. 

Cornelius Dimpsey, left widow, and children, Mary, James, and 
Jonathan. Captain James Thompson bought the place of his widow, 
in 1 796, late Jacob Zeibach's, in Kelly. 

Lietenant Colonel Neigal Gray, twelfth Pennsylvania, of White 
Deer. Children : John ; Elizabeth, married John Auld ; Isabella, 
and Robert. 



xrm- 




Families in White Deer Hole Valley — Andrew Gregg's Wedding — 
Call to Eeverend Hugh Morrison — Members of his Congregation. 

I EMBERS of Assembly : Samuel Maclay and John White. 
Sheriff, Thomas Grant. County Commissioners, John 
Lytle, Walter Clark, and William Gray. 

Buffalo township : Constable, John Clark 3 Overseers, 
David Watson and Michael Vought ; SupervisOTS,'^TEomas Forster 
and Andrew Billmyer ; Assessor, William Irwin, Esquire ; Assist- 
ants, William Moore and Flavel Roan; Collector, Jolvi Sierer. 
Among residents — Anderson, William ; Barber, Thomas ; Barber, 
Samuel; Baum, Charles; Carothers, William; Dixon, Sankey ; 
Getz, Adam; Irwin, Matthew; Johnson, Christopher; Nevius, 
Christian; Pickle, Jacob; Wales, Henry. 

White Deer, additional residents — Falls, James ; Farley, Caleb ; 
Farley, John; Laird, Matthew; Marshall, Richard: 

Washington — Grub, Peter; Hagerman, James; Lawson, John; 
Sips, Joseph; Swan, Samuel. 

Fenn's, among residents, ^'c. — Ball, George ; Bickle, Simon, dis- 
tillery; Biegh, Frederick; Burkert, John; Bright, Michael; Ditzler, 



1787.] AXXALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 245 

John; Grum, Jacob; Herrold, Simon, hemp-mill; Hertz, John; 
Kremer, Daniel; Lutz, John: Manning, Nathan; Miller, Widow, 
saw-mill ; Motz, John, oil-mill ; Mumma, John ; Reedy, Peter ; 
Ruch, John ; Snyder, John ; Stump, William, with distillery ; 
Swineford, Albright, taxed with a slave; Zieber, Adam. 
Isle of Que : Weaver, Michael, junior ; Wayland, George. 

Sketches by John F. Wolfinger, Esquire. 

In 1787, "White Deer Hole valley had fourteen families of white 
settlers, whose names and places of residence were as follows : 

1. Rachel Weeks, an old Enghsh widow woman, occupied a 
small log hut or cabin, near the mouth of White Deer Hole creek, 
between the bank of the river and where the fine brick mansion of 
John S. Smith now stands. Rachel had six children, named Jeth, 
Job, Hanna, Jemima, Xaomi, and Annie. 

2. Thomas Weisner, occupied a cabin on the river bank, near 
where the bridge at Uniontown now crosses the river Susquehanna, 
about half a mile north of Rachel Weeks' . Thomas, who had a -n-ife 
and six or seven children, afterwards moved away to parts unkno^Ti. 

3. John Rumsey, occupied a cabin on the river bank, north of 
Wiesner's, and had a wife and nine children, and a small farm here. 
He is supposed to have come here from the State of Xew York, and 
soon after returned to that State. He talked English. 

4. George Gray, occupied a cabin on the river bank, about three 
quarters of a mile north of Rumsey "s, and had a wife and three chil- 
dren. He talked English, and worked at little jobs around among 
his neighbors, but moved away about two years afterward to parts 
unknown. 

5. Marcus Huling, occupied a cabin on the river bank, about 
three hundred yards north of Gray's, and had a wife and five chil- 
dren. He talked English, and worked at his trade, being a black- 
smith. He afterwards moved higher up, or west, into the Valley, and 
from thence to Newberry, and from thence again to Youngmans- 
town, (Mifflinburg,) and finally into York State. He is supposed 
to have been a cousin of the Marcus Huling, also a blacksmith, 
who lived at the town of Milton at th§.t day. 

6. Cornelius Vanfleet, a New Jerse}Tnan, occupied a cabin that 



246 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1787. 

Stood on the White Deer Hole creek, a httle west of the widow 
Weeks'. He acted as a justice of the peace for many years, and 
died here on the 7th of December, 1841, in the eighty-fifth year of 
his age. His remains he buried in the Presbyterian grave-yard. 

7. Peter Dougherty, an Irishman, occupied a cabin on the White 
Deer Hole creek, about a mile and a quarter above the mouth of the 
creek. He had a wife and children, and afterwards moved farther 
west into the Valley, and finally out to the State of Ohio. 

8. Eleanor Brown, commonly called "Nellie Brown." She was 
the widow of Matthew Brown, already noticed, and occupied a 
cabin on the White Deer Hole creek, about two and a half miles 
west of its mouth. She died at her son's, William Brown's, cabin, 
that stood about half a mile west of her own cabin, on the 9th of 
August, 1 81 4, and her descendants are still found in this Valley and 
its adjacent parts. 

9. Samuel Swan, occupied a cabin that stood about two hundred 
and thirteen yards due west of Eleanor Brown's. Swan talked Eng- 
lish, had a wife and children, and afterwards moved away to parts 
unknown. 

10. Seth McCormick, an Irishman, occupied a cabin on South 
creek, a branch of White Deer Hole creek, about a mile west of 
Swan's cabin. Seth died here on the 17th of January, 1835, in the 
seventy-ninth year of his age. His remains lie buried in the old 
Presbyterian, (now Lutheran,) grave-yard, at the "stone church," 
on the south-west side of Penny Hill. He left a wife and nine 
children, and his descendants are still living here, and occupy a part 
of their great ancestor's estate. 

11. Thomas McCormick, an Irishman, and a brother of Seth's, 
occupied a cabin on South creek, about half a mile from Seth's. He 
seems to have acted as a justice of the peace for some years. He 
died on the 6th of October, 1826, aged seventy-two years, and his 
remains also lie buried in the old grave-yard, near the above ' ' stone 
church." 

12. Jesse Weeks, a son of the widow Weeks, already noticed, oc- 
cupied a cabin that stood on the north side of " Spring creek," the 
northern branch of White Deer Hole creek, and about four miles 
west of its junction with "South creek." Jesse Weeks died here, 
but his age and place of burial are unknown. 



1787.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 247 

13. Daniel Sunderland, an Englishman, occupied a cabin that 
stood about a mile further up on Spring creek, and he died there. 

14. John Farley, a New Jerseyman, came here in 1787, from the 
State of New Jersey, with a wife and seven children, named Jacob, 
Barbara, Minard, John, David, Naomi, and Fanny. He immedi- 
ately built himself a log cabin, and occupied it, on White Deer Hole 
creek, about two hundred feet from where the dwelling house of the 
late Charles Gudykunst now stands, and being an active and enter- 
prising man, he soon afterwards built himself a log grist-mill here, 
\\it first one in the Valley, as already stated. 

I have obtained all of the above facts relative to these fourteen 
families, (excepting what relates to their times of death and places 
of burial,) from Mr. John Farley, a son of the above John Farley, 
and who is still living in our Valley, a venerable white haired old 
gentleman, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, whose house I visited 
for that purpose on Tuesday, the 17th of July, 1870. 

He says: "I was born in Tewksbury township, Hunterdon 
county, State of New Jersey, on the 9th of July, 1783, and came 
here into this Valley with my father, John Farley, in 1787, when I 
was four years old. And I have resided here ever since, for the 
long space of eighty-three years, and knew and remember the names 
of all the white settlers that lived in this Valley in the spring of 1 7S7, 
when I came here, and where their log huts or cabins stood, and 
how their cabins were made. My father built one of the same kind 
of cabins here in 1 787, and four or five years afterwards he also built 
a small log grist-mill here, with but one pair of grinding stones in 
it ; the first grist-mill erected in this Valley. In the year 1800, my 
father, after living here thirteen years, moved back to the State of 
New Jersey. But he died here in this Valley in June, 1822, while he 
was up here on a visit to me and my family. He was upwards of 
seventy years of age when he died, and my brothers and sisters are all 
dead, and I am now the only one left of all my father's family. 
Very great changes have taken place in the appearance of this Val- 
ley, its farms, houses, barns, &c., since I came here; changes far 
greater than any I ever expected to see here, and all for the better." 

John Swineford opened the first hotel at Middleburg, Snyder 
county. loth June, George Derr sells George Knox as much water 



248 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1787. 

as will run out of an inch hole at the bottom of the race, two poles 
from Derr's house. 

29th January, Andrew Gregg was married by the Reverend John 
Hoge to Martha Potter, daughter of General James Potter, at the 
latter's residence, the first farm above Jacob McCorley's, Esquire. 
Mr. Gregg rode up from Carlisle on horseback, and brought Mr. 
Hoge with him. There were then no Presbyterian clergymen settled 
in this part of the country, and some sixteen or seventeen couples 
took advantage of Mr. Hoge's presence, hurried up their matches, as 
Mr. Hoge had to return to Carlisle within a limited time. 

Andrew Gregg moved to Oldtown, now Lewistown, ^yhere his first 
daughter, Mary, afterward Mrs. McLanahan, of Greencastle, was 
born, November 3, 1788. In 1789 Mr. Gregg moved to Penn's val- 
ley, within two miles of Old Fort. In 1790 he was elected member 
of Congress, and by seven successive elections for several districts, 
as they were arranged from time to time, including one by a general 
vote over the whole State, was continued a member of that body for 
sixteen successive years, and during the session of 1 806-1 807 was 
elected a member of the Senate of the United States. In December, 
1820, Governor Hiester appointed him Secretary of the Common- 
wealth. He died in Bellefonte, on the 20th of May, 1835, aged 
eighty years. He had removed there some years previous, for the 
purpose of educating his children. His wife died in 1815. He was 
born on the Conodoguinet creek, near Carlisle, July 10, 1755, and 
received a classical education ; was tutor for some years in the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, and first settled at Middletown, Pennsylva- 
nia, where he kept store. He had a fine library, containing all the 
Greek and Latin classics, most of which are still in the possession of 
his daughter, Mrs. Margery Tucker, of Lewisburg. His grandchil- 
dren, Governor A. G. Curtin, General D. M. Gregg, and General 
John I. Gregg, have flung far forward into the future the light of 
their family fame. 

In May, 1787, a call was given to the Reverend Hugh Morrison,^ 
by the Buffalo Cross-Roads congregation, in connection with the con- 

^The Keverend Hugh Morrison, the first regular pastor of the Presbyterian 
Church in this Valley, came from Ireland, Presbytery of Koot, in 1786. Among the 
records of the Synod, under date May 18, 1786, "the Presbytery of Donegal reported 
that they had, since our last meeting, admitted Hugh Morrison; a licensed candidate 
from the Presbytery of Root, in Ireland," &,c. 



1787.1 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 24^ 

gregations of Northumberland and Sunbury, and among die records 
of die Synod, May 22, 1788, is die following: Carlisle Presbytery 
reports that it has, since our last meeting, ordained to the work of 
the Gospel ministry Mr. Samuel W, Wilson, in the pastoral charge 
of "Big Spring" congregation, and Mr. Hugh Morrison, in the 
pastoral charge of the Sunbury, Northumberland and Buffalo Valley 
congregations. The following is a copy of the call, for which, with 
other material in reference to this church, I am indebted to Isaac 
Grier, D. D., of Mifflinburg : 

"Mr. Hugh Morrison, Preacher of the Gospel : 

" Sir : We, the subscribers, members of the united congregations 
of Buffalo, Sunbury, and Northumberland, having never in these 
places had the stated administration of the Gospel Ordinances, yet 
highly prizing the same, and having a view to the advancement of 
the Kingdom of Christ, and the spiritual edification of ourselves and 
families, have set ourselves to obtain that blessing among us. And, 
therefore, as we have had the opportunity of some of your labors in 
these places, and are satisfied with your soundness, piety, and minis- 
terial ability to break unto us the bread of life, we do most honestly 
and sincerely, in the name of the Great Shepherd of the flock, Jesus 
Christ, call and invite you to come and take the pastoral charge and 
oversight of us in the Lord. And for your encouragement, we do 
promise, if God shall dispose your heart to embrace 'this our call, 
that we will pay a dutiful attention to the word and ordinances of 
God by you administered ; that we will be subject to your adminis- 
trations and reproofs, should our falls and miscarriages expose us 
thereto ; and will submit to the discipline of the Church, exercised 
by you agreeably to the word of God. And, also, that we will treat 
your person with friendship and respect, and behave in all things 
towards you as becomes a christian society to behave towards their 
pastor, who labors among them in word and doctrine. Further, we 
are persuaded that those who serve at the altar, should live by the 
altar. We do promise, in order that you may be as much as possible 
freed from worldly incumbrances, to provide for you comfortable 
and honorable maintenance, in the manner as set forth in our sub- 
scription papers attending this our call, during your continuance 
with us as our regular pastor. In witness of our hearty desire to have 



2^0 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1787. 

you settle among us, we hereunto set our names this 31st day of 
May, 1787." 

Signed by seventeen from Northumberland, eight from Sunbury, 
and forty-eight from Buffalo. On it is the following deputation : 

"We, the undersigned, do nominate, appoint, and intrust the 
Reverend Mr. Wilson with the annexed call for the Reverend Mr. 
Morrison, to be by him presented to the moderator of the Carlisle 
Presbytery, for the purpose mentioned. Signed : William Gray and 
Abram Scott, for Sunbury ; William Cooke and James Hepburn, for 
Northumberland; and William Clark, for Buffalo." ' "~ 

In October, Reverend Hugh Morrison became pastor of the Buf- 
falo Cross-Roads Presbyterian church. The congregation engaged 
to pay him ;^75 per year. From a list of contributing members 
found in the treasurer's book, I gather the following names : An- 
derson, John ; Allen, Joseph ; Baldy, Christopher ; Barrett, James ; 
Black, Thomas ; ^Boyd, James ; ^Brady, John ; ^Buchanan, James ; 
^Charters, William ; Clarke, Captain John ; Clark, Robert ; ^Clark, 
Walter ; ^Clark, William ; Cox, Samuel ; Cox, Tunis ; Davis, David ; 
^Davis, John ; Derr, George ; ^Douglass, William ; Dugan, William ; 
Elder, Thomas ; Evans, Joseph ; ^Farley, John , Fleming, William ; 
^Forster, Andrew ; ^Forster, James; ^Fruit, Robert; Graham, Edward; 
^Gray, John; Gray, Captain William; Green, Joseph; Grogan, 
Charles ; Hammersly, George ; ^Holmes, Jonathan ; Hudson, Jo- 
seph ; Huntsman, James; Hutchinson, Thorhas; Irvine, William; 
Irvine, Matthew; ^Irwin, William, Esquire; Johnston, Christopher; 
Kennedy, Alexander; ^Kelly, Colonel John; Knox, George; Laird, 
Matthew; Lewis, Paschall ; Links, George; ^Linn, John; Lowdon, 
Captain John; McClenachan, William and Andrew; McDougal, 
William ; McGrady, Alexander ; Maclay, Samuel ; Magee, James ; 
Marshall, William; ^Miller, Benjamin; Milligan, John; Montgom- 
ery, Samuel ; Moore, George ; Nichols, William ; Poak, Charles ; 
^Poak, Joseph ; Toak, Thomas ; Poak, Widow ; Porter, Samuel ; 
^Ray, John; Rees, Daniel; Reznor, John; Roan, Flavel ; Rodman, 
Widow; Rorison, Alexander; Scroggs, Allen; Sherer, Richard 
and Joseph ; Sims, William ; Snodgrass, David ; Steele, Alexander ; 
^Thompson, Captain James ; ^Thompson, John; Vanvolsan, Levi; 
^Watson, David ; Williams, William ; and Wilson, William. 

Shortly after Mr. Morrison's arrival, an election for elders re- 



1787.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 25^ 



suited in the choice of Walter Clark, John Linn, William Irwin, 
David Watson, John Reznor, and Joseph Allen. The siibscriptions 
by the more wealthy attendants upon service were Andrew Forster, 
-£2 ; Samuel Maclay, John Lowdon, and William Irwin, each, £1 
\os.; William Irvine £1 6s.-, James Forster £1 2s. 

Those marked ( ^ ) were signers of Mr. Morrison's call, and as 
such, in 1803, were sued for back stipends. The principal and in- 
terest and costs, when they made the last payment, in December, 
1810, was ^1,179 30. 

September 17, the Constitution of United States was adopted, 
and on December 12, the State Convention ratified it. The dele- 
gates to the latter from Northumberland county were Colonel 
William Wilson and his partner, John Boyd. They then kept store 
in the town of Northumberland. In 1791, Colonel Wilson built 
the Chillisquaque mills, at the mouth of that creek, and moved to 
that place. 

At November sessions, the road commencing at the head of Penn's 
valley ; thence through Aaronsburg to the road at Richard Lowdon's 
barn ; thence down the same to John Davidson's ferry, was laid out. 

Deaths. 

Alexander Beatty, of New Berlin. Children : Jane, Agnes, Hugh, 
John, Hannah, Sarah, James, and Alexander. The deceased car- 
ried on the first tannery in the Valley, on site of present town of 
New Berlin. 

Matthew Young, of Buffalo. Children : Margaret, (see her cap- 
ture, related 1 781,) still hving, in 1787, John, Sarah, and Agnes. 
One of his daughters married Robert Dixon. Sarah was residing in 
Westmoreland county, in March, 1796, when she gave Colonel 
Kelly and Captain Thompson a letter of attorney to draw her share 
under her father's will. 

John Snyder, original owner of Selinsgrove, brother of Simon, 
subsequently Governor. 

John McClung, of Buffalo. Children : John, James, Matthew, 
Charles, Rebecca, Esther, and Elizabeth. 

Sebastian Kerstetter, of Beaver. Children: Martin, Lenhart, 
Peter, Sebastian, Catharine, and Margaret. 

James Thorn, of Buffalo. 



^fflnm^^s^l^^^ 



>T 



17 




Dreisbach CnuRCH — Roads — Houses in Lewisburg — Matthew Laird's 

Family. 

EMBER of Council, William Maclay. Members of 
Assembly, Samuel Maclay and John White. County 
Commissioners, William Gray, Peter Hosterman, and 
John Lytle. Treasurer, John Buyers. 

By act of 26th of September, the Buffalo election place was 
changed from Fought's to Andrew Billmyer's tavern, on the road 
mentioned below. 

In August, Christian Van Gundy, William Irvine, John Thomp- 
son, David Watson, and Andrew Billmyer reported that they had 
laid out the road, beginning at Derrstown, on the West Branch ; 
thence to the meeting-house, in Buffalo ; thence to Thompson's 
mill, on Buffalo creek j thence to the east side of George Rote's 
lane, where it intersects the road leading from Davidson's ferry to 
the narrows ; distance, nine and a half miles. (Thompson's mill 
became Rockey's in 1789.) This is the road leading past the late 
Francis Wilson's, (by old Billmyer place,) to Miffiinburg. 

In November, John Clarke, John Lowdon, and Philip Voneida 
reported a road from Michael Shirtz's, at the narrows of Penn's 
creek, past Peter Kester's, on the Cole place, to a pine tree at the 
end of Colonel Clarke's lane. This is still the main road down 
Penn's creek, through Laurelton, Hartleton, and then south of the 
turnpike to Miffiinburg. 

Additional Residents of Bujfalo — Betz, Abraham ; Bogenreif, 
Christopher ; Caldwell, Samuel ; Dobbins, Robert ; Miller, Chris- 

252 



1788. j ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 253 

tian ; Sims, William, weaver, at Alexander McGrady's ; Vanvalzah, 
Doctor Robert ; Yentzer, Christian. 

Lewisburg — Eaton, John; Grove, Wendell; Kendig, Jacob, 
(Isle of Que;) McCrackeri, Widow; Scroggs, Allen; Wise, Fred- 
erick. 

Improvements in White Deer — John Bear's saw-mill. 

Among Residents- — Adams, Joseph ; Bennage, Samuel ; Denning, 
Samuel ; Derr, Frederick ; Henning, Philip, distillery ; Hoover, 
John; Linn, William, on Joseph Brundage's place; McLanahan, 
Andrew; Perry, Thomas. 

Single Men, taxed \os. each — Black, Timothy; Hammersly, 
James ; Iddings, Isaac ; Iddings Henry ; Laird, Moses ; Scott, 
Thomas; Smith, Ludwig. 

Penn's Township — Bickle, Tobias, grist-mill ; Brownlee, William ; 
Bowerman, Daniel ; Buchtell, John ; Carstetter, Bostian ; Eberhart, 
Philip; Howell, Adam; Kay, Frederick; Koons, John; Meiser, 
Henry, saw-mill; Miller, Widow, saw-mill; Miller, Benjamin; 
Notestone, John ; Neiman, Weiand ; Pyle, George, distillery and 
saw-mill ; Quinn, William ; Quinn, Thomas ; Rush, Daniel ; Ship- 
ton, Thomas, distillery ; Shock, Jacob, grist and saw-mill ; Snyder, 
S. ; Spade, David ; Spade, Jacob ; Swineford, George. 

The following memorandum, relative to the Dreisbach church, is 
derived from the late John Schrack, Esquire : 

" In this year the German Reformed and Lutheran congregations 
united in building a log church, where the Dreisbach Church now 
stands. John Pontius had set apart some land, on the south end of the 
Bucher tract, for a church and burying- ground, (the family burying- 
ground is still there,) but Martin Dreisbach, senior, offering to donate 
seven and a half acres for that purpose, it was judged best to accept 
that. On the part of the Reformed, John Aurand and Elias Younk- 
man were trustees ; Martin Dreisbach and Jacob Grozean were elders ; 
Peter Frederick and Henry Dreisbach, deacons. On the Lutheran 
side, Herman J. Shellhart was pastor ; Christian Storms and Adam 
Christ were trustees ; Casper Bower and Henry Meizner, elders ; 
Jacob Metzgar and John Sierer, deacons. The names of some of the 
members of the Reformed Church were : Aurand, George ; Aurand, 
Henry; Barnhart, Matthias ; Barnhard, Henry; Brown, John ; Dreis- 
bach, John ; Dreisbach, Jacob ; Frederick, George ; Fisher, George ; 



2S4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1788. 

Mook, Jacob ; Michael Vought, and John Pontius. Of the Lutheran, 
John G. Buch, George Bower, John Hiltman, Stephen Duchman, 
Jacob Gebhart, John Meizner, Leonard Welker, Mathias Alsbaugh, 
Adam Kreichbaum, William Rockey, Peter Fisher, Leonard Gron- 
inger, George Smith, Christopher Wagner, Adam Meizner, George 
Buch, Christopher Bickel, Jacob Welker, Christopher Baldy, John 
Crider. In 1839 the log church was taken down, and a brick build- 
ing erected. Among the pastors of this church were Dietrick Au- 
rand, Gentzler, Pfriemer, Shellhart, Geisweit, William Ilgen, John 
C. Walter, and Herbst, but the dates of their service are unknown." 

In November, William Gray, Esquire, deputy surveyor, made a 
re-survey of Lewisburg, and in his plan indicated the roads then ex- 
isting, and the lots built upon, with their occupiers. 

The road from Sunbury to Muncy is marked as along the bank, on 
the opposite side of the river, and Captain John Brady's house as 
immediately opposite Strohecker's landing. Thomas Rees is marked 
as the owner of the house at Strohecker's, and the road to Penn's 
valley, as running directly west from it. The road from Sunbury to 
Buffalo and Penn's valley is marked as intersecting the last men- 
tioned road, some distance from the river, and crossing Lime- 
stone run, opposite Third street ; then entering Fourth street, and 
running along it out to the creek, it crossed the creek at Colonel 
Slifer's upper farm, the site of the new iron bridge built there, 
then the site of High's saw-miil, the remains of which are yet visi- 
ble, where it intersected a road leading up to Gundy's mill above, 
and thence up the Valley. From High's mill at the creek it ran 
over to William Gray's, (there was no road then crossing Buffalo 
creek at its mouth ;) thence by Robert Fruit's, &c. There were no 
houses west of Fourth street, and the first one on it is where John 
Griffin built a fine house, (18 71.) Alexander Steele had a house 
where John Beeber resided, and a tan-yard, on that square. Ed- 
ward Long lived opposite^ on the Charles Buyer lot, and next to him, 
north, was Wendell Grove. John Bolinger had a house on the alley 
behind William Nogel's present residence. John Hamersly lived 
on the corner of Third and St. George, where Reverend Job Harvey 
now lives. There was also a small log house, burned down some 
thirty-five years ago on the same lot. 

On Second, George Troxell lived, and owned the adjoining lot. 



1788.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 255 

Doctor Buyers built the present house, on the corner of St. Cathe- 
rine's, where Troxell lived. There was a house also on Spyker's corner, 
opposite James S. Marsh's new residence. Jacob Welker lived on 
the site of Marsh's new house. David Snodgrass lived on the Chroni- 
cle lot, opposite where his widow afterwards kept a cake and beer 
saloan. Nicholas Smith occupied the only house on Market, now 
Jonathan Wolfe's lot, west of his residence. The two lots where the 
depot now stands are marked " Roman Chapel." On Front, Joseph 
Evans, cabinet-maker, had the only house, on the lot now owned 
by William Cameron, Esquire. Joseph Sherer lived on the corner 
of Water street, where Halfpenny's woolen store or warehouse now is. 

William Williams had a store where Martin Hahn's stone house is 
now. Ellenckhuysen's ferry was opposite to it. Henry Conser, prob- 
ably, lived where Spyker's heirs now live. He was the grandfather of 
Reverend S. L. M. Conser, so James Kelly tells me. Thomas Armor, 
probably, lived on the Griffin lot, and the only other inhabitant of 
Lewisburg, Flavel Roan, lived in Derr's tenant house. Where that 
was I do not know. Roan owned three lots, James Walls, John 
Nesbit, and Henry Frick's, lying close together, and had the ferry 
over Buffalo creek. George Derr, of course, lived at the mill. The 
old house stood in what is now the garden, just two rods north-east 
of the place where Hull's tannery water-pipe taps the race. George 
Knox, father of Mrs. William Armstrong, probably, made his tan- 
yard this year, where E. J. Hull now has his. In July of 1787, 
George Derr conveyed to Knox, for tan-yard purposes, as much, 
water as will run out of an inch hole, at the bottom of the race, two 
poles from Derr's house. 

October i, Winiamjvlaclay and Robert Morris, first United States 
Senators from Pennsylvania, elected. A paper of the day says : 
" The landed and commercial interests of the State will be well rep- 
resented." 

The Congressmen were elected on a general ticket, and not from 
districts. 

Matthew Laird, who came to the Valley this year, is the ancestor 
of a large generation. He came originally from Ireland, where his 
son James was born. He was a wagoner with General Braddock's 
army, and was in Colonel Dunbar's camp when the news came back 
of General Braddock's defeat, 9th July, 1 755. [See his statement in 



2^6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1788. 

the Colonial Records, volume 6, page 482.] He says, "a wounded 
officer was carried into camp on a sheet ; then they beat to arms, 
on which the wagoners and many common soldiers took to flight, 
in spite of the sentries, who forced many to return, but many got 
away, among them, this examinant." His daughter, Isabella Black, 
was twelve years old when he came to White Deer. Matthew Laird 
died in August, 1821. His children were James, John, Isabella, 
married to James Black, Moses, (father of R. H. Laird, Esquire,) 
who died in Derry, in January, i8i6, Margaret, married to John 
Blakeney, Matthew, who died in Tiffin, Ohio, Ehzabeth, and Ann. 
Moses married Jane Hayes, and their son. Reverend Matthew, mar- 
ried a Miss Myers, and went out as missionary to Africa, dying 
there, May 4, 1834. Their other children were John, Mrs. Mc- 

Calmont, Mrs. Joseph Milliken, of Chnton county, , married 

William Caldwell. 

Deaths. 

Leonard Groninger, leaving widow, Elizabeth. Children : Leon- 
ard, Daniel, Jacob, Susanna, Margaret, and Elizabeth. 
Jacob Aurand. 

John Rearick, senior. Children : Mary and John. 
Margaret Green, wife of Joseph. 




17^9 



4 ! 



BoUDE Family — Residents of Beaver Township — First G-erman Re- 
formed Pastor — Manufactures, &c. — Deaths of Major Lawrence 
Keene and General James Potter. 

RESIDENT of the State, Thomas Mifflin. WiUiam 

Wilson, member of the Supreme Executive Council. 

Samuel Maclay and John White, members of Assembly. 

William Montgomery, President Judge. Abraham Piatt, 

William Shaw, &c.. Associates. 

July 28th, Jasper Ewing, Esquire, appointed Prothonotary, vice 
Major Lawrence Keene, deceased. John Simpson, re-appointed 
Register and Recorder ; Frederick Antes, Treasurer ; Martin With- 
ington, elected Sheriff. County Commissioners, John Lytle, Peter 
Hosterman, and William, Hepburn. Commissioner's Clerk, H. 
Douty. Bernard Hubley, Lieutenant of the county. 

On the 7th of January, the first election for presidential electors 
resulted in the choice of General Edward Hand, Colonel George 
Gibson, John Arndt, Colinson Reed, Lawrence Keene, James Wil- 
son, James O'Hara, Colonel David Grier, Samuel Potts, and Alex- 
ander Graydon. 

November 19th, Daniel Brodhead, Surveyor General, appointed 
the following deputy surveyors : Henry Vanderslice, for part of 
Berks ; Joseph J. Wallis, for part of Northumberland ; James Harris, 
for part of Mifflin ; William Gray, part east of the Susquehanna. 

Officers of Buffalo : Constable, C. Baldy; Overseers, Isaac Hanna 
and Wendell Baker ; Supervisors, William Williams and James Wat- 
son ; Fence Viewers, John Crider and Benjamin Miller. 
17 ^S7 



2s8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 1789. 



Additio?ial Taxables of Buffalo — Mathias Alsbach ; Henry Fulton, 
merchant at Lewisburg ; Philip Grove, Jacob Kephart, Joseph 
Oldts, George Oldts, William Rockey, John Rengler, (grist and 
saw-mill,) Henry Sassaman, John Shuck. 

Officers of White Deer — Constable, Robert Clark ; Supervisors, 
John Lackey and Samuel Dale ; Overseers, Thomas Hutchinson and 
Richard Irwin. Additional resident, Roan McClure, (taxed with a 
negro.) 

Caleb Farley built the grist-mill on White Deer Hole creek, late 
Charles Gudykunst's. 

January ist, Paschall Lewis married to Elizabeth Boude by Colo- 
nel John Kelly, justice. The Boudes were a highly respectable 
family, from Lancaster county, one of whom. Major Thomas Boude, 
distinguished himself as an ofiicer in the revolutionary war, and 
stands connected with some of the largest and most respectable fami- 
lies in our Valley. Thomas Barber's wife, Mary, and Robert Bar- 
ber, Esquire's wifj, Sarah, were Boudes, sisters of Mrs. Lewis. 

Names of the Residents of Beaver Township, taken from an Assess- 
ment made by Daniel Hassinger, in April, 1789. 

Albright, Jacob ; Aupel, Peter ; Barnes, John ; Beak, Frederick ; 
Beard, Jacob; Bell, George; Bopp, Conrad; Boutch, Anthony, 
distillery; Breiner, Philip; Briesenger, Conrad; Carrel, Hugh; Car- 
rel, Frederick ; Christy, James ; Clark, James ; Deininger, Fred- 
erick; Deward, Francis; Dido, Frantz; Diese, Michael; Dries, 
John ; Dries, Jacob ; Dries, Peter ; Everhart, Barnard ; Everhart, 
Frederick; Gift, Adam; Gooden, Moses ; Gothers, Henry ; Grim, 
Jacob; Hall, Matthew; Hartz, John; Hassinger, Jacob; Has- 
singer, Daniel, saw-mill; Hassinger, Frederick; Herbster, David; 
Houser, Jacob; Kern, Yost, (Joseph;) Kline, George; Kline, 
Christopher ; Kline, Stophel ; Kricks, Jacob ; Krose, Henry ; 
Krose, (Gross,) Henry, junior ; Krose, Daniel ; Laber, John ; 
Lepley, Jacob ; Lewis, Thomas ; Manning, Nathan ; Mattox, 
Jacob ; Maurer, Michael ; Maurer, Michael, junior ; Meek, An- 
drew; Meek, Peter; Meyer, John; Meyer, John, (weaver;) 
Meyer, Mary ; Michael, Jacob ; Mook, George ; Moon, Nathaniel ; 
Moriarty, Francis ; Mumma, John ; Nerhood, Henry; Newcomer, 



1789.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 259 

Peter ; Nyer, Nicholas, grist-mill ; Oatley, Edward ; Oatley, Asa ; 
Philips, Benjamin ; Poe, Jacob ; Reger, Adam ; Reger, Elias ; 
Reigelderfer, Adam ; Roushj Jacob ; Royer, Stephen \ Royer, Bas- 
tian ; Sharred, Jacob ; Snyther, John ; Snyder, Peter ; Stock, 
George ; Straub, Andrew, grist-mill and two distilleries ; Strayer, 
Mathias; Stroub, Jacob; StuU, Mathias 3 Stump, William, distil- 
lery ; Thomas, John ; Thomas, George ; Treminer, Paul ; Van- 
horn, Daniel ; Walter, Jacob ; Wannemacher, Casper ; Watts, John ; 
Weiss, Stophel, grist-mill ; Wiant, Jacob ; Woods, John ; Yost, 
Widow ; Yomig, Matthew. Single men taxed ten shillings each : 
Collins, Joseph ; Gift, Anthony ; Gross, John ; Hassinger, John ; 
Hassinger, Henry ; Lewis, Stephen ; Lewis, Enos ; Manning, 
Elisha; Manning, Nathan 3 Phillips, Benjamin; Sherrard, George; 
Strayer, Mathias. 

In March or April, the German Reformed Churches of Mahony, 
Sunbury, Middle Creek, and Buffalo Valley, united in a call to Rev- 
erend Jonathan Rahauser, which he accepted, and accompanied by 
Mr. Jacob Meyer, he arrived in his new field September 22. He 
only performed such duties as come within the province of a licen- 
tiate until the 27th of June, 179X, when he was ordained, at Lancas- 
ter, by the ccetus of the church. It is well to observe here, that all 
regular ministers of the German Reformed Church in the United 
States, although they had a coetus, or assemblage of ministers, of 
their own, from the year 1748, were under the care, and received 
their authority from the Church of Holland until about the year 1 79 1 . 
Mr. Rahauser was one of the first ordained without authority from 
Holland. His appKcation having been transmitted thither, and no 
reply received. In October, 1 792, Mr. Rahauser removed to Hagers- 
town, Maryland, and took charge of the congregation there. He 
died there September 25, 181 7. He was- a very energetic and la- 
borious pastor, and caught his last sickness, in crossing a swollen 
creek, to fulfill one of his appointments. He was the first regular 
German Reformed clergyman who performed stated services in our 
Valley. He died at the early age of fifty-two. — Harbaugh's "■Fath- 
ers:' 

At May Session, Samuel- Mathers, Colonel John Clarke, John 
Macpherson, Christian Shively, and William Moor make report that 
they have laid out the road from the second hollow in the Big Blue 



2bo ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1789. 

hill to Hartley's house, where Peter Kester now lives, on the road 
from Davidson's ferry to Penn's valley. 

On the 19th of October, a convention was held at Paxton, to 
take measures for the improvement of the river. Charles Smith, 
Anthony Selin, William Wilson, Frederick Antes, Aaron Levy, 
Andrew Straub, and others, were delegates. They resolved to do 
it by subscriptions, to be received in money, grain, or produce of 
any kind. Boyd & Wilson's store, in Northumberland, Yentzer & 
Derr, at Lewisburg, Selin & Snyder, in Penn's township, &c., 
were designated depositaries. 

Review of. manufacturers, dr^c, in Buffalo Valley, in 1 789 — Jona- 
than Holmes, tan-yard ; John Dreisbach, gunsmith ; James Watson, 
saw and grist-mill ; William Jenkins, grist-mill ; Christopher Wei- 
ser, fulling-mill ; William Rockey, saw and grist-mill, formerly 
Fought's and John Rengler's grist and saw mill ; George Wolfe, 
saw-mill ; Benjamin Miller, merchant ; George Knox, tan-yard ; 
George Derr, two grist and two saw -mills ; Henry Fulton, mer- 
chant ; William & Alexander Steele, tan-yard ; Joseph Green, grist 
and saw-mill ; Wendell Baker, saw mill ; Jacob Groshong, saw-mill ; 
David Smith, saw and grist-mills ; Benjamin Herr, merchant ; Alex- 
ander Beatty, tan-yard. 

Distilleries in White Deer — William Gray, Philip Henning, 
Samuel Huston, Robert Carnahan, Matthew Laird, and Robert 
McCorley. 

The old log church at Buffalo Cross-Roads was repaired and 
somewhat enlarged in October. 

Deaths. 

March 10, Dreisbach, Anne Eve, wife of Martin, aged sixty-seven. 

In July, Lawrence Keene, prothonotary. He served in the Revo- 
lutionary war as captain, in the eleventh Pennsylvania, commissioned 
February 3, 1777, and as aid-de-camp to General St. Clair; pro- 
moted major, and mustered out November 3d, 1783. His wife 
was Gainor Lukens, a daughter of John Lukens, Surveyor General. 
He left three children, Samuel L., who died in Philadelphia, May 
II, 1866; Lawrence, who married Maria Martin, daughter of the 
celebrated Luther Martin, and died August 13, 1S13 ; and Jesse L. 
Keene, who died November 27, 1822. 



1789. J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 261 

David McClenachan, of White Deer. 

Adam Smith, of Buffalo, whose children were Adam, Mary, 
George, Catherine and Barbara. 

Major General James Potter died in the latter part of November 
or beginning of December. James Potter, junior's, letter to Chief 
Justice McKean is dated Penn's valley, December 10, 1789, in 
which he states, "doubtless before you receive this, you will have 
heard of the death of my father. — Pennsylvania Archives, volume 
11, page 661. 

He was assisting in building the chimney of one of his tenant 
houses, in Penn's valley, and, in turning about suddenly, injured 
himself internally. He went to Franklin county, to have the benefit 
of Doctor McClelland's advice, and died at his daughter's, Mrs. 
Poe, and is buried in a grave-yard at Brown's Mills, near the present 
railroad station of Marion, in that county, with no tablet to mark his 
grave. He was a son of John Potter, the first sheriff of Cumber- 
land county, and in January, 1758, was a lieutenant, with William 
Blythe, in Colonel John Armstrong's battalion. He next appears 
in command of a company in pursuit of the Indians, who had mur- 
dered, that morning, July 26, 1764, a schoolmaster, named Brown, 
and ten children, near where the town of Greencastle now stands. 

He married a Miss Cathcart, sister of Mrs. George Latimer, of 
Philadelphia, who died, leaving a son and daughter. He then 
married Mrs. Chambers, sister of Captain William Patterson. He 
resided principally on the Ard farm, in White Deer township, just 
above New Columbia, though, no doubt, he changed his residence on 
account of the Indian troubles. One year, 1781, he resided in the 
Middle Creek settlement, now Snyder county, as the assessments 
show, and family tradition has it, his eldest son, John Potter, died 
there. In 1786, Pickering visited him at the Ard farm, and in 1787, 
Mrs. Gregg, his daughter, was married there. 

In personnel he was short and stout, with a hopeful disposition, 
which no troubles could conquer. In a letter, dated May 28, 1781, 
he says, " look where you will, our unfortunate country is disturbed, 
but the time will come when we shall get rid of all these troubles. 

His eldest daughter married Captain James Poe. Mary married 
George Riddles, who died March 14, 1796, and is buried at North- 
umberland, in the Presbyterian church-yard. Their daughter, Mary 



2(32 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1789. 

A., married W. H. Patterson ; Eliza, Doctor Joseph B. Ard, whose 
heirs still own the old place in White Deer ; Martha, married Mr. 
Gregg. 

General Potter's son James married Mary Brown, daughter of 
Judge Brown, of Mififlin county. Of their children: i, General 
James Potter, (third,) married Maria, daughter of General William 
Wilson, of Chillisquaque ; 2, William Potter, Esquire, late of Belle- 
fonte, attorney-at-law ; 3, Mary P., married Doctor W. I. Wilson, 
of Potter's Mills; 4, John Potter; 5, Martha G., married to Abra- 
ham Valentine; 6, Peggy Crouch, married Doctor Charles Coburn, 
of Aaronsburg ; 7, George L. Potter, Esquire, who practiced awhile 
at Danville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Andrew G. Curtin, who is a daugh- 
ter of Doctor W. I. Wilson, of Potter's Mills, is a great-grand- 
daughter of the revolutionary general, and the Governor is a great- 
grandson, on the Gregg line of descent. 

John Lukens, Surveyor General of the State, died in October, 
and was succeeded by Colonel Daniel Brodhead, on the 3d of No- 
vember. John Lukens' estate, at this date, (1877,) is still before 
an auditor for distribution. Charles Lukens Barnes, an heir, lived 
and died in Lewisburg, making his living sawing wood, while wait- 
ing for his share of this veritable Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce. 




h- 



790 




Officials- Survey of the Susquehanna for Inland Navigation — New 
Constitution, and Elections under it. 

HE following is a list of the county representatives and 
officials during the year, under the Constitution of 1776, 
which was superseded by the Constitution adopted Sep- 
tember 2, 1790: William Wilson, Councilor; Samuel 
Maclay and John White, members of Assembly; William Mont- 
gomery, Presiding Justice ; Jasper Ewing, Prothonotary ; Martin 
Withington, Sheriff; Peter Hosterman, John Weitzel, and William 
Hepburn, County Commissioners. 

Officers of Buffalo : Constable, C. Baldy ; Supervisors, George 
May and Alexander McCaley ; Overseers, Peter Zeller and John 
Macpherson. 

Of White Deer : Constable, Robert Fruit ; Supervisors, Joseph 
Poak and Alexander Stephens ; Overseers, William Clark and 
Robert Martin. 

Additional Taxables in Bit-ffalo — Betzer, William ; Boveard, Wil- 
liam; Cress, Conrad ; Carroll, William; Campbell, John; Cald- 
well, William; Depuy, Hugh; Dunlap, William; Hempstead, 
Joshua ; Jones, Benjamin ; Lourey, Samuel ; McDaniel, Daniel ; 
Oatley, Isaiah ; Porter, Samuel ; Shreiner, Nicholas ; Sherer, Joseph ; 
Wilson, John ; Clarke, Joseph ; Mann, Philip : Wilson, Hugh, 
(father of Francis.) ~~~ 

Additional Taxables in Fenn's — Evans, Frederick ; Metterling, 
Baltzer ; Reiber, John ; Stees, Frederick ; Snyder, John S. ; Wei- 
rick, Peter; Zerber, Peter; Snyder, Simon, (son of Henry.) 

263 



2b4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1790. 

At February Sessions of the quarter sessions of Northumberland 
county, the name of Potter township (now in Centre) was changed 
to that of '^ Haines." In May, Josiah Haines and John Thorn- 
burg started a store in Lewisburg. Prices of grain at Philadelphia, 
in July, were, wheat, 9^. dd. ; rye, 6x. ; oats, 3^-. 5^. ; Indian corn, 
2yS. gd. ; buckwheat, at 2s. 

Survey of the Susquehanna. 

On the 6th of April, Timothy Matlack, John Adlum, and Samuel 
Maclay were appointed commissioners to survey and examine the 
Swatara, part of the Susquehanna, Sinnemahoning creek, and the 
Allegheny river, with a view to the promotion of inland navigation. 
The commissioners started in May, and were engaged most of the 
summer in their work. Mr. Maclay's journal of this expedition is 
in the possession of his grandson. Doctor Samuel Maclay, of Mifflin 
county. 

On the 26th of April he started with James McLaughlin's boat, 
him, Edward Sweney, and Mathew Gray taken into pay. They 
went first down to the Swatara, which, it appears they were to exam- 
ine, to see whether it could be made navigable ; got to Herrold's on 
the 27th, where breakfast and a quart of whiskey cost him 5^-. 2d. ; 
then to Harrisburg and Lebanon. The commissioners, however, 
for some reason, failed to meet him. He, with the rest of the com- 
missioners, came up on the 17th of May, and at Herrold's one of Er- 
win's boats came up, and they raced from that to Sunbury, McLaugh- 
lin's boat coming out ahead. From there they came up to the point 
at Northumberland, and dined with Colonel Wilson. Mr. Maclay 
then went over to visit his family, in Buffalo Valley. May 19, he 
says : Colonel Matlack detained the boat at Northumberland, to 
carry Josiah Haines' goods up to Derrstown, where he and one 
Thornburg are erecting a new store. The boat then came up to T. 
Rees', where Mr. Maclay wanted some things landed. At Derrs- 
town they met with Captain Lowdon, who told Matlack that Rees 
had sent for Mr. Maclay, but Matlack would not wait. So he had to 
shoulder his baggage and follow on foot. He trudged through the 
rain and bad roads, up to James McLaughlin's, opposite the mouth 
of Warrior run, where he arrived at ten o'clock, and found the boat 
landed. 



1790.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 263 



Major Adlum was detained at Northumberland until the 23d, 
when he joined them at Loyal Sock. He speaks of leveling the race- 
ground at Wallis's Island, (near Muncy, I suppose.) 

Sunday, 23d, they reached the nciouth of Bald Eagle, at sunset, and 
stayed there on Monday, baking bread and providing horses. There 
they breakfasted with Mrs. Dunn. They leveled the Sinnemahon- 
ing, and also made canoes there. From "canoe place" Mr. Adlum 
and part of the men started and run a line to the Allegheny. The 
object of the expedition was to determine what method of commu- 
nication the country would admit of, between the eastern and west- 
ern parts of the State. He speaks of catching beaver, and of the 
large wolves that frequently crossed their track, in a very indifferent 
manner. On the 14th, he surveyed the West Branch of the Sinne- 
mahoning, and got a little above Boyd's whetstone quarry. 15 th, 
got to Bennett's cabin, three quarters of a mile above the forks. 
July 2d, they reached the Ohio, and went down it, having an In- 
dian, named Doctor Thomas, for guide. At the State line, Con-ne- 
Shangom, the chief, had gone to Venango, but Captain John makes 
them a speech of welcome, which he inserts in full in the journal. 
Near this place Mr. Maclay met a Dutchman, who had been taken 
prisoner by the Indians in the last war, and chose to continue with 
them, and was living among them. July 7th, they had an interview 
with Cornplanter, at Jenoshawdego. 

The Indians were very jealous of them, until they explained their 
business. Cornplanter then welcomed them in a speech, which 
Mr. Maclay inserts. He says, we were addressed by an orator, on 
behalf of the women. The principal points were, that as they, 
the women, had the hardest part of the labor of making a living, 
they had a right to speak, and be heard. They welcomed them, 
because, they were the pioneers of the good roads that were to come, 
and make intercourse easy and merchandise cheaper, and they hoped 
good correspondence would make them all one people in the future. 
Colonel Matlack responded to this speech. They then went down 
to Captain John O. Beales' town, and "had the honor of his com- 
pany for supper." July 14, they struck the old French road to 
Erie. He says the ruts were quite plain yet. He says. Lake Erie 
is a fresh water sea. "You can see the horizon and water meet." 
They arrived at Fort Franklin, on the 20th. The commanding offi- 



266 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1790. 

cer, Lieutenant Jeffries, was very polite to them. He speaks of kill- 
ing a cat-fish with Mr. Adlum's Jacob staff, which weighed ten and 
one half pounds. 

2d of September, the new constitution was adopted by a conven- 
tion, convened at Philadelphia, 24th November, 1789. Simon Sny- 
der and Charles Smith,' Esquire, were the delegates from Northum- 
berland county. 

The first election under the new constitution took place on the 
12 th of October. In Northumberland county, for Governor, 
Thomas Mifflin received 865 votes, to 68 cast for General Arthur 
St. Clair. William Montgomery, elected State Senator without op- 
position, having 1,029 votes. Samuel Maclay and John White were 
elected members of Assembly, over Samuel Wallis and Alexander 
Hunter; Martin Withington^ sheriff, over Charles Gobin, John 
Boyd, and Flavel Roan ; Joseph Lorentz, coroner ; and Daniel 
Montgomery, county commissioner. John Simpson was re-ap- 
pointed register and recorder. 

It having been decided that the powers of the House of Assembly 
and State officers were superseded by the constitution, on the 2d 
of September, the house in a paper filed, September 4, declined 
acting longer. On the 20th of December, the Executive Council 
ceased acting, and on the 21st, Governor Mifflin was inaugurated. 

February 17, by Reverend Hugh Morrison, Hugh Wilson married 
to Catherine, daughter of Captain William Irvine. 

Deaihs. 

George Troxell, of Lewisburg. 
. Christopher Haney, of Haines township. He was a private in 
Captain Clarke's company, in 1776. His children were Hieroni- 
mus, Christopher, Adam, John, Eve, Elizabeth, and Frederick. 
John Black, of Sunbury, (brother of James, of Lewisburg.) 
Ulrich Lotz. His children were John Jacob, Anna Maria, and 
Catherine. In his will he recommends his children to adhere strictly 

1 Charles Smith was the third son of Doctor William Smith, Provost of the Col- 
lege at Philadelphia. He was admitted to the Sunbury bar, in 1786, and married, 
in 1791, to a daughter of Jasper Yeates, Esquire. He was the compiler of Smith's 
laws, and afterwards president judge of the Cumberland and Franklin distrl(>t. 
He died in Philadelphia, in 1840, aged seventy-five. 



1790.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 267 



to the advice which Tobias, in fourth chapter, gives, "Keep God 
before your eyes," &c. 

Peter Burns, senior, of Buffalo. 

Jonas Fought. Children : Michael, Barbara, Ann Elizabeth. 

John Wierbach, (who lived upon the place next above Weiden- 
saul's mill, in Hartley now.) He left a widow, Catherine, who died 
in 1804, of cancer. Sons: John, Nicholas. One daughter, married 
to Frederick Wise, who moved to Brush valley, Centre county. One 
married to John Hoover, and moved to Clearfield, and one married 
Philip Dale. One of his daughters was taken by the Indians. (See 
1781.) 

Charles Grogan, of Buffalo, was returning home, from a wood- 
chopping, with a yoke of oxen, one cold night this wint-er, and, 
becoming bewildered, was frozen to death. He left a widow, sister 
of James Burney, and two sons, Alexander and James, and two 
daughters. His widow, after some years, married Henry Van Gun- 
dy, and removed to now Chnton county. James and Alexander 
Grugan, as they now write their names, became the heads of quite 
large families. Grugan township derives its name from this family. 
Honorable Coleman Grugan, late associate judge of Clinton county, 
is a grandson of Charles Grogan. — Maynard's Clinton County, page 

153- 




h- 



1791 




List of State and County Officials — Additional Taxables — Death of 
Doctor William Plunket — Mrs. Samuel Maclay's Family Lineage. 

lOVERNOR, Thomas Mifflin. Judges of the Supreme 
Court, Thomas McKean, Edward Shippen, Jasper Yeates. 
Attorney General, Jared Ingersoll. State Treasurer, 
Christian Febiger. Receiver General, Francis Johnston. 
Secretary of the Land Office, David Kennedy. Surveyor General, 
Daniel Brodhead. Secretary of the Commonwealth, A, J. Dallas. 
Deputy Secretary, James Trimble. The Judges of the several Courts 
were, Jacob Rush, President ; William Montgomery, Joseph Wallis, 
Thomas Strawbridge, and John Macpherson, Associates, commis- 
sioned August 17. Jasper Ewing, Esquire, Prothonotary, August 1 7. 
Member of Congress, Andrew Gregg, representing Bedford, North- 
umberland, Huntingdon, Franklin, and Mifflin. Senator, William 
Montgomery. Members of Assembly, Samuel Maclay and John 
White. 

September 3, Flavel Roan was commissioned a Notary Public ; he 
was sole notary in the county until his death ; John Teitsworth suc- 
ceeded him, April 2 0, 1815 ; Flavel Roan was commissioned Sheriff, 
October 18; William Hepburn, John Weitzel, and Daniel Mont- 
gomery were County Commissioners ; Bernard Hubley, Lieutenant 
of the county ; Justices of the Peace commissioned. Colonel Kelly, 
August 31 ; Simon Snyder, October 26 ; William Irwin, August 31 ; 
Captain Wiljiam Gray, December 30 ; for Penn's and Beaver Dam, 
John Bishop, August 31. 

Frederick^Evans was Deputy Surveyor of Peters, in Mifflin county, 
Haines, Beaver Dam, Penn's, and that part of Buffalo south of the 

268 



1791.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. zbg 

_ 

Indian purchase of 1754; Christopher Bering appointed Collector 
of Excise, September i. 

Officers of Buffalo : Constable, Henry Pontius ; Supervisors, John 
Crider and Peter Kester ; Overseers, John Reznor and William 
Irwin. 

White Deer : Constable, John Bear \ Supervisors, Richard Fruit 
and Thomas Hutchinson ; Overseers, Robert McCorley and John 
Steel. 

Martin Withington opened hotel in Mifflinburg. 

Additional residents in Lewisburg — Black, James, (ferry;) Ellen- 
huysen, Joseph; Lewis, Alexander; Metzgar, Jacob, innkeeper; 
Moore, John, blacksmith; Poak, William; Stroh, Nicholas. 

27th May, Andrew Kennedy, senior, commenced the publication 
of the Sunbury and Northumberland Gazette, at Northumberland. 
This paper was extensively circulated in the Valley, and continued 
up to 1813. 

Among those assessed in Buffalo township — Barnhart, George ; 
Barnhart, Henry ; Black, William ; Book, George ; Bower, Casper ; 
Bower, George ; Caldwell, Thomas ; Cox, Tunis ; Frantz, Lewis ; 
Fox, Andrew; Gettig, Frederick; Getz, Peter; Getz, Andrew; 
Gibbons, Edward; Glover, John; Gooden, Moses; Graff, (Grove,) 
Philip; Grimes, Samuel; Hixon, John ; Hudson, George; Kelly, 
Hugh; Kemmerling, Jacob ; Leitzell, Anthony; Lowry, Andrew 
Lowry, John; Lowry, Robert; Lowry, William; McElrath, Robert 
McMurtrie, Hugh; Meizner, Adam; Metzgar, John ; Patton, John 
Richard, Henry, (name which disappears from the assessment after 
1784, re-appears again with the supplement "■ thief," which is carried 
all through the assessments afterwards;) Rees, Daniel; Roan, Fla- 
vel; Sarvey, Jacob; Struble, Adam; Thornburg, John; Thomp- 
son, John, erects a mill to be driven by the water from Thomp- 
son's spring; Van Gundy, Christian; Van Gundy, Henry; Van 
Gundy, John; Weeker, William; Wilson, Hugh; Yentzer, Chris- 
tian ; Zimmerman, Christian ; Zimmerman, Jacob. 

4th August, 1 79 1, Christopher Baldy, William Irwin, and Chris- 
tian Yentzer, assessors. Robert Barber erects a saw-niill at White 
springs. 

Penn's — Adam, Widow ; Berry, Jacob; Bishop, Jatob; Grove, 
Adam; Goy, Frederick, distillery; Gwynn, Hugh; Heimbach, 



270 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1791. 

Peter ; Housel, Peter ; Oberdorf, Andrew, grist and saw-mill to 
Anthony Selin ; Snyder, John, tan-yard ; Stees., Frederick, grist, 
saw, and oil-mill ; Thornton, John ; Witmer, Peter, distillery, ferry, 
and saw-mill. 

Beaver — Bopp, Conrad, hemp-mill ; Collins, David ; Edmmison, 
Wilham ; Hassinger, Jacob, tan-yard; Johnston, John and James; 
Myer, Henry, grist and saw-mill ; Myer, Jacob, tan-yard ; Knepp, 
George ; Sherrard, Jacob, grist and saw-mill ; Wise, John, grist and 
saw-mill. 

Buffalo Gross-Roads Church. 

In October we find the pews in the Presbyterian Church at Buf- 
falo Cross-Roads rated and rented for the first time. There were 
thirty-six pews or seats. No. i, probably reserved for the minister's 
family; No. 2, rated at ^£'3 ^s., taken by David Watson, Colonel 
John Clarke, Alexander Kennedy, and Joseph Clark; No. 3, 
Thomas Forster, Andrew Forster, Robert Forster and Robert Cham- 
bers; No. 4, ;^3, Christopher Johnston; No. 5, Captain James 
Thompson, William Thompson, Samuel Porter, and Jarnes Boyd; 
No. 6, jQ2 i$s., Arthur Clellan; No. 7, Robert Clark, Richard 
Sherer, and Joseph Allen ; No. 8, Samuel Dale, Esquire, and Joseph 
Evans; No. 9, John-Reznor and David Tate; No. 10, Samuel Mac- 
lay, (this seat he retained until his death, in 181 1;) No. 11, John 
Steel, Joseph Hudson, and William Steele; No. 12, Joseph Green, 
^i 9J-. 6d. ; No. 13, James Irwin and Matthew Irwin ; No. 14, Wil- 
liam Irwin, Esquire, ^2 ; No. 15, John Thompson; No. 16, Benja- 
min Miller; No. 17, John Ray, William and Thomas Black; No. 
17, Roan McClure ; No. 1,8, Mr. Lincoln; No. 19, George Knox; 
No. 20, Walter Clark; No. 21, William Irvine; No. 22, Jonathan 
Holmes and Joseph Sherer; No. 23, James Poak, William Poak, 
Widow Poak, and Thomas Poak; No. 24, Edward Graham and John 
Davis; No. 25, William Wilson and James Black; No. 26, vacant; 
No. 27, John Linn, John Gray, and Joseph Patterson; No. 28, 
Robert Fruit and Gideon Smith ; No. 29, William Gray and Thomas 
Howard; No. 30, William Clark, James Forster, and Widow Fors- 
ter; No. 31, Thomas Elder, David Buchanan, and Robert Elder; 
No. 32, Charles Pollock, Thomas Hutchinson, and William Wil- 
liams; No. 2>2>' Colonel John Kelly and Captain Joseph Poak; No* 



1791.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 271 

34, Samuel Demming, James Moore, (Widow Moore,) George 
Moore, Widow Fleming, Thomas Rodman, Jame^ Meginness ; No. 

35, Adam Laughlin, Widow McGradyand James Clelland; No. ^^6, 
Matthew Laird and Andrew McClenachan. 

With the meeting of Congress, at Philadelphia, on the 14th of 
October, we note the division of the people into two great parties, 
the Federalists and Democrats, the funding of the public debt, char- 
tering the United States Bank, and other measures, inflaming the 
States Rights or Democratic party so much that, at this session, they, 
for the first time, appeared in open and organized opposition to the 
administration. — George Read's Life, page 536. 

Noi'ice of William- Plunket, 

William Plunket, the first presiding justice of Northumberland 
county, died in the spring of this year. He resided, as early as 
1772, a little above Chillisquaque creek, at his place called "Sol- 
diers' Retreat," now owned by Mr. Solomon Walters. He was the 
father of Mrs. Samuel Maclay, whose lineage is traceable to John 
Harris, senior, whose grave is yet to be seen on the bank of the river 
at Harrisburg, in front of the residence of General Simon Cameron_ 
Near it are the remains of the mulberry to which he was tied by the 
Indians, to be burned. I will only add to the story, that it was his 
negro slave, Hercules, who crossed the river, and brought the neigh- 
boring Indians to his rescue, while the drunken Indians were about 
applying the fire to him. For this he gave Hercules his freedom, 
and directed his burial on the same spot. John Harris, senior, died 
in 1748. His wife, Esther Say, was a lady of rare endowments, 
who came from England, in the family of Judge Shippen. Among 
their children were John, the proprietor of Harrisburg ; Samuel, who 
settled at the outlet of Cayuga lake, New York, and a daughter, who 
married Doctor William Plunket. 

Doctor Plunket, at the time of his marriage, resided at Carlisle, Penn- 
sylvania, and his daughters, four in number, were born there. His 
wife dying, he remained a widower, which fact gave rise to Meginness' 
mistake in stating that he was a bachelor. His daughters were Eliz- 
abeth, born in 1755, married to Samuel Maclay ; Isabella, born Jan- 
uary, 1760, married to William Bell, Esquire, of Elizabethtown, New 



2y2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1791. 

Jersey ; Margaret, married to Isaac Richardson, removed to Wayne 
county, New York, then known as the (jenesee country. She left 
four sons and two daughters. Israel J., in Delaware, Ohio, and 
David H., of Monroe county, New York, of her sons are still living. 
Hester Plunket, the youngest, married Colonel Robert Baxter, of the 
British army, and died about a year after her marriage. Her daugh- 
ter, Margaret, married Doctor Samuel Maclay, of Mifilin county. 
John Harris' wife, Elizabeth McClure, said to have been the most 
lovely woman of her day, died young, from fright and grief, at the 
report, brought her by a neighbor, of her husband's death. He saw 
a man shot, and fall off his horse, in attempting to swim the river, 
and supposed it was Mr. Harris. It proved to be a young physician, 
whom Mr. Harris had taken up behind him (25th October, 1755.) 
Her daughter, Mary Harris, who inherited much of her mother's 
beauty, married Senator William Maclay. A miniature likeness of 
her is now in the possession of her granddaughter, Mrs. Eleanor M. 
Brinton, of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Samuel Maclay and 
Mrs. William Maclay were cousins, and married brothers. 

The late William C. Plunket, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was a 
nephew of Doctor Plunket. A brother of Doctor Plunket came to 
this country, bringing with him a daughter, Margaret, who married 
Samuel Simmons, of Pine creek. His name was Robert. Another 
brother, David Plunket, settled at Baltimore, and was lost at sea on a 
voyage to the West Indies. Doctor Plunket served in the French war 
as a lieutenant, and secured for his services six hundred acres of land, 
part now owned by Judge Dreisbach. He owned large bodies of 
land, and was one of the leaders in the Pennamite war. He lived 
afterward and died in the ofHce owned by Ebenezer Greenough, and 
lately occupied by David Rockefeller, Esquire, at Sunbury. His 
will is dated January 3, 1791, and proved May 25, 1791, in which 
he mentions his granddaughter, Margaret Baxter, one of the most 
beautiful and accomplished ladies of the State, who died at Mil- 
roy, Mifflin county, July 6, 1863. 

The three sisters, Mrs. Maclay, Mrs. Bell, and Mrs. Richardson, 
survived to a good old age, and resided together, in Mifflin county. 
Mrs. Maclay was a Presbyterian, Mrs. Bell an Episcopahan, and Mrs. 
Richardson a Quaker. They were all three remarkable ladies. Mrs. 
Bell was a very handsome and highly polished woman. She had a 



1792.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2jj 

boarding-school at Albany, New York^ where Mrs. Catherine Sedg- 
wick, and many of the celebrated ladies of the time, received their 
education. 



1>IQ)Q,. 




East and West Buffalo Townships Erected — Miffltnbueg and New 
Berlin Laid out — Notice of Reverend J. Gr. Phreemer — Simon Sny- 
der's Dam Controversv — Death of Captain Anthony Selin and M. J. 
Ellenkhusen. 

jEMBERS of Assembly, Samuel Dale and John White. 
January 13, General William Wilson appointed Asso- 
ciate Judge, vice Joseph Wallis, resigned. February 23, 
Samuel Maclay appointed Associate, also. Flavel Roan. 
Sheriff. John Weitzel, Daniel Montgomery, and Robert Fleming, 
County Commissioners. i8th January, Joseph J. Wallis appointed 
Deputy Surveyor of Charles Lukens' and William Scull's district, 
(both of whom are deceased,) and of that part of William Maclay's 
district north of Penn's creek, and of Upper Bald Eagle, in Mifflin 
county. 

Officers of Buffalo — Constable, C. Baldy; Supervisors, Adam 
Christ and John Sierer ; Overseers, William Irvine and Henry Dreis- 
bach ; Fence Viewers, Philip Voneida and George Frederick ; Col- 
lector, Christian Yentzer; November 29, Robert Barber commis- 
sioned Justice of the Peace for Buffalo ; School-teachers in Buffalo, 
Alexander Templeton and George Paget. The latter taught many 
years at a school-house near Michael Grove's, the former in New 
Berlin. 

Officers of White Deer — Constable, William Robb ; Supervisors, 
Andrew McClenachan and John Gray ; Overseers, Robert Finney 
and Robert Clark. 
18 



2J4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1792. 

Additional Taxables of White Deer — Charles Nogel, Gideon 
Smith. 

Easi and West Buffalo Townships Erected. 

At January Sessions, William Irwin, Samuel Dale, John Thomp- 
son, Christopher Baldy, Benjamin Miller, and Henry Pontius were 
appointed viewers to divide Buffalo township. They commenced 
the line at two gum saplings, on the south bank of Spruce run, at 
the line of White Deer and Buffalo, a little west of Daniel Rengler's 
old saw-mill, (Applegate's ;) thence south to the head of the 
spring at Andrew Pontius' ; thence down Switzer run to its mouth, 
at Penn's creek, (Philip Seebold's,) and the townships were called 
East and West Buffalo.^ The first officers of this township were, 
Robert Forster, constable ; John Reznor and Thomas Forster, over- 
seers ; Ehas Younkman, supervisor ; Andrew Forster and Robert 
Chambers, fence viewers. 

At January Sessions, the road from Brush valley, by way of French 
Jacob's old mill, (now Heberling's,) to James Irwin's, was laid out. 
George Langs, Henry Dreisbach, Matthew Irwin, were of the 
viewers. It commenced at a black oak, near the gap of Buffalo 
mountain, by way of said mill to a corner of Wendell Baker's field, 
where it intersected "the meeting-house road." Distance, six miles 
fourteen perches, (now road by way of Cowan.) 

Improvements of this year — Wendell Baker's saw-mill, (at Cowan;) 
Alexander Beatty's tan-yard, at New Berlin ; Christopher Weiser's 
fulling-mill, on Turtle creek, now Peter Wolfe's. 

Lower ferry, at Lewisburg, kept by James Black. 

At November Sessions, the road from Wolfe's tavern (afterwards 
Lyon's, on the Cumberland road, leading to Sunbury) to Jenkins' 
mill, thence to Derr's town, at the south end of Second street, 
along Second to Market, to Front, by way of St. John's, to the mouth 
of Buffalo creek, laid out. Mifflinburg, laid out by Elias Younk- 
man, in the summer of this year; and New Berlin, laid out by 
George Long, Frederick Evans, surveyor. The dates of the first 
deeds for lots in these places I can find on record are 30th Novem- 

1 East Buffalo always went by the name of Buffalo among the people ; is so called 
In deeds and elsewhere, except on the assessment books, until the erection of the 
present Buffalo. 



1792.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2js 

ber, 1792, lot No. 55, in Mifflinburg ; i8th January, 1793, George 
Long to Adam Snyder, for No. 53, in New Berlin. 

John Hager built one of the first dams on Penn's creek, about 
one half mile below App's present mill, according to William Gill's 
recollection. 

Samuel Dale, Esquire, moved from where New Columbia now 
stands to his place, now in Kelly, owned by his grandchildren. 

Reverend John G. Phreemer. 

The Reverend John G. Phreemer, who was connected with the 
religious movement -which resulted, at length, . in the sect of the 
United Brethren in Christ, and sometimes professing to be a min- 
ister of the German Reformed Church, made frequent and extensive 
tours through middle Pennsylvania. The aged Mrs. Fulmer says 
that about this year, 1792, Andrew Straub and Michael Weyland 
used to push their canoe, containing their families and others, across 
the river, where Milton now is, in order to worship under a tree on 
the opposite side. The tree stood at Hoffman's, (1854,) a short 
distance above the bridge. On such occasions, the preaching and 
service . were conducted by Mr. Phreemer, and afterwards by Mr. 
Phreemer and Deitrick Aurand. Mrs. Fulmer often crossed herself 
to attend worship under this tree. Phreemer leute, or " Phreemer 
people," was a common expression in Buffalo Valley at an early day. 
He was very fanatical. A very pious old man once told me he had 
the people act the fool by his preaching. He is said once to have 
remarked that he could preach the Devil out of hell. Abraham 
Brown said he saw him in Ohio, in 181 4, where Phreemer was on a 
visit. He was then residing in Kentucky, and associate judge of 
the court there. He died at his home in Harrison county, Indiana, 
in 1825. — HarbaugK s Fathers. 

Sel'm and Snyder's Mill- Dam. 

On the 28th of December, a petition was presented to the Senate 
on the part of Simon Snyder and Anthony Selin's heirs, to enable 
them to maintain a dam across Penn's creek of the height of two 
and one half feet. This aroused the settlers along the creek and 



2y6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1792. 



produced a remonstrance, read in the Senate, March 4, 1793, which 
is interesting from some statements it contains. It states ' ' that Simon 
Snyder, and Anthony Selin, before his death, erected a dam across 
the main current of Penn's creek ; that there were no less than ten 
mills within nine miles of Snyder's, some of which grind the year 
round unobstructed by ice, and they subjoin a list of the mills, with 
their distances from Snyder's : Lauterslager's and Pickle's, within 
three miles; Moore's, three miles and a half; Shock's, four miles; 
Rush's, five miles ; Hickadron's, six ; Maclay's, seven miles. Swine- 
ford's, ditto; Weitzel's, eight; and Frederick Stees', nine miles. 
This being the case, we consider it highly injurious to stop the 
whole navigation of Penn's creek, in order to promote the indi- 
vidual interest of Simon Snyder, Esquire," &c. This petition is 
signed by James Beatty, George Long, Christian Miller, Alexander 
Beatty, Samuel Templeton, William Fisher, Benjamin Griffith, Rob- 
ert Tait, David Tate, Robert Barber, Thomas Barber, John Green, 
Paskel Lewis, John McMullen, James Davis, Peter Kester, Wilham 
Douglass, Adam Laughlin, John Glover, John Thompson, junior 
and senior, David Burd, Alexander Connel, Andrew Lovvery, Joseph 
Green, Ludwig Schmidt, James McKelvey, Martin Trester, &c. 

Notwithstanding this remonstrance, the Legislature, April 10, 
1793, passed an act authorizing the dam. [See Dallas' Laws, vol- 
ume 3, page 364.] 

Deaths. 

Alexander McGrady, died in May. His children were Alexan- 
der, William, Agnes, wife of Eli Holeman, Jane, wife of James 
Johnston. 

Samuel Barber, who lived at the mouth of Switzer run, was killed 
by the falling timber of an old barn he was taking down. One of 
his daughters married William McConnell, the other Swinehart. 
His widow, Martha, lived on the old place (now owned by Philip 
Seebold) as late as 181 2. 

Captain Anthony Selin, founder of Selinsgrove. He was com- 
missioned by Congress, December 10, 1776, captain in Ottendorff's 
corps, afterwards attached to Armand's legion, and was still in service 
in ] 780, at Wyoming. His children were Anthony, Charles, and 
Agnes. His wife was a sister of Governor Snyder, and Selin pur- 



1792.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2-j-j 



chased the ground on which the town now is, at the death of his 
brother-in-law, John Snyder. Finding Snyder's plot would not fit, 
he re-surveyed the ground, laid it out anew, and named it. His 
son, Anthony Charles, was a major in the war of 1812. The widow 
of the latter, Mrs. Catherine Selin, died at the residence of her son- 
in-law, Robert Swineford, in Selinsgrove, November 3, 1868, aged 
eighty-two, the last of the family name in the United States. 

George Hudson, of White Deer. 

James Fleming, of Buffalo. He left his property to his wife's 
children, Samuel, Jane, and Benjamin Rodman. 

Abel Rees died, (at Strohecker's now.) 

James Thom, of West Buffalo. His children were Robert, 
Arthur, Annie, married to John Boude, Sarah E., married to James 
Robb, Elizabeth, and Mary. 

At Lewisburg, July 17, 1792, Mathias Joseph Ellenkhusen. He 
came to Lewisburg in 1790, was the son of Carl Ellenkhusen, who 
had purchased the principal part of the town, and was sent over by 
his father from Amsterdam, Holland, to look after his interests, or 
to found a family in the western world. The principal notice we 
have of the son and his wife are from the recollections of Mrs. Mary 
Brady Piatt, taken down by O. N. Worden, Esquire. Mrs. Ellenk- 
husen was short in stature, considerably pock-marked, very lady- 
hke in manner, spoke the Low Dutch language, and astonished the 
people by her elegance and passionate fondness for skating. She and 
Mr. Ellenkhusen took that method of visiting the different towns on 
the river. She married John Thornburg, who also soon died. She 
afterward married Mr. Moore, and removed to Erie, Pennsylvania. 
Ellenkhusen was a man of very genteel address, and fond of soci- 
ety. His father had given him the town site, and a good outfit of 
clothing and money, hoping, no doubt, he would build up a fortune ; 
but emigration suddenly declined, and the convivial habits he had 
acquired, probably before leaving Europe, shortened his days. Per- 
sonally, he was much esteemed. He was quite an artist, and often 
drew with pencil striking likenesses of his companions. Sheriff John 
Brady was a joker. He had found a cannon near Muddy run, and 
he told Ellenkhusen that he would present it to him if he would take 
care of it. On cleaning out the mud which covered the muzzle, two 
large black snakes came out, greatly to the horror of Mr. Ellenk- 



2JS 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY, 



[1793. 



husen. He told Brady the circumstance afterward. " Why," said 
Brady, '-they were my i)ets ; I would not have lost them for a 
;^ioo," and Ellenkhusen, no doubt, died in the belief that he had 
let loose some play-fellows of Brady's. P211enkhusen and Thorn- 
burg were both buried beneath what is now the vestibule of the 
Presbyterian church. The annalist recollects well the wild cherry 
tree that stood near, and the brick wall inclosing these graves. The 
tombstone of Ellenkhusen was preserved by the late James F. Linn, 
Esquire, and is in the cellar of the church. Its inscription is : 
"Here lie the body of Mathias Joseph Ellenkhusen, who departed 
this Hfe July 17, 1792, age thirty-eight years and three months." 

" Since it is so we all must die, 
And death no one doth spare ; 
So let us all to Jesus fly, 
And seek for refuse there." 



>T 



1793 




Additional Taxables — Yellow Fever in Philadelphia — Fall Elec- 
tions — Deaths in the Valley. 

NDREW GREGG, Member of Congress. Josiah Haines 
and James Davidson, members of Assembly. Daniel 
Montgomery, Robert Fleming, and Richard Sherer, 
County Commissioners. John Brown was commissioned 

a Justice of the Peace for Washington township March 13. Number 

of taxable inhabitants in Northumberland county, three thousand 

eight hundred and seventy-eight. 

Additional Taxables, East Buffalo — Barber, Martha (Widow;) 

Baily, John ; Betz, William ; Brown, Christian; Carstetter, Martin ; 

Covert, Luke ; Dale, Samuel ; Dunkle, Jacob ; Doty, Doctor ; 

Gass, George; Gelitzler, William; Getz, Adam; Hayes, John; 



1793 ] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2jc> 

Hummel, John ; Miller, Christian, (Berhntown;) Morton, Thomas; 
Myer, George, (Berlintown ;) Ray, John ; Reedy, Conrad ; See- 
bold, Christian, grist-mill, formerly James Watson's ; Sheckler, Dan- 
iel ; Sheckler, Tobias 3 Speddy, Jeremiah; Stahl, Philip; Wilson, 
Thomas. 

List of Residents in Lewisburg—E\a.ck, James; Caldwell, Thomas ; 
Deering, Francis; Belong, Edward; Donachy, John; Dunlap, 
John, (ferry;) Ellenckhuysen, Clara ; Evans, Joseph ; Groninger, 
Leonard ; Grove, Adam ; Grove, Wendel ; Heineman, Samuel ; 
Holdship, George ; Kemble, Lawrence ; Knox, George ; Links, 
George ; Lewis, Alexander ; Metzgar, Daniel ; Poak, William ; 
Russell, David ; Sherer, Joseph ; Snodgrass, David ; Swinehart, 
Lewis ; Thornburg, John ; Troxel, Abraham ; Wells, Benjamin ; 
Wells, Joseph ; Yentzer, Christian. 

Christopher Baldy commenced the tan-yard at Buffalo Cross- 
Roads. 

Doctor Charley Beyer practicing medicine in Lewisburg. 

Still-houses — Andrew Billmyer's, Andrew Blair's, John Beatty's, 
George Gass', on John Aurand's place, Peter Leonard's, Henry 
Pontius', Daniel Rees', Levi Vanvolsen's. 

New Saw mills — John Hager, Michael Moyer. 

Additional Residents in White Deer — Adams, James ; Chamber- 
Tin, Colonel William, of Anvil township, Hunterdon county, New 
Jersey, bought the mill known as Bear's, and moved into the Valley ; 
Dale, Henry ■; Fruit, Richard ; Howard, Thomas, one slave ; How- 
ard, David ; Miller, Samuel ; Marshall, Stephen, lived on George 
. Riddle's place or General Potter's place, late Doctor Ard's ; Rose, 
Andrew ; Stillwell, Daniel ; Williams, William. Stephen Marshall 
and James Adams, above, were grandparents of late Honorable 
James Marshall. Philip Heany moved to Penn's valley. 

First Residents in Mifflinburg — Dreisbach, John ; Holmes, Rob- 
ert; Holmes, Jonathan ; 'Longabaugh, Henry; Longabaugh, Mi- 
chael; Reedy, Nicholas; Sampsel, Nicholas ; Youngman, George ; 
Waggoner, Christopher. 

West Buffalo, State of Improvements, S^c. — Thomas Barber, saw- 
mill ; Jacob Grozean, grist and saw-mill ; Joseph Green, grist and 
saw- mill ; William Rockey, grist and saw-mill ; Michael Shirtz, 
grist and saw-mill at Penn's Valley narrows, finished this year ; 



28o ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1793. 

Christopher Seebold, grist, saw-mill, and still ; David Smith, grist 
and saw-mill. 

Stills — Robert Barber, John Boude, George Rote, Elias Younk- 
man. Slaves : One taxed to Colonel John Clarke, named Mel, 
and one to David Watson, named Kate. 

Additional Residents — McCreight, John ; Shriner, Henry ; Wil- 
son, Hugh, on General Irvine's land, late Solomon Kleckner's ; Zip- 
pernock, Frederick. 

Penn's Township — App, Mathias ; Aurand, Daniel ; Bastian, 

Daniel, Michael, and George ; Blasser, ; Burchfield, Charles ; 

Clements, Peter ; Dusing, Nicholas and John ; Gable, Frederick ; 
Grogg, Peter, saw-mill ; Hager, John, saw-mill ; Hershey, John ; 
Highlands, John ; Hoffer, Elizabeth ; Hummel, George Adam ; 
Jasemsky, Reverend Frederick William ; Kern, Mathias ; Ken- 
dig, Jacob ; Krebs, John ; McKinney, Abraham ; Nyhart, David ; 
Pfiel, Henry, saw-mill on Middle creek ; Ram, Nicholas ; Rhoads, 
Francis, junior ; Shatzburger, Christopher ; Shawber, Christopher, 
junior; Silverwood, James; Snyder, John, tan-yard; Snyder, 
Simon, junior ; Solt, David ; Strausser, John N. ; Sutherland and 
Vanvalzah, grist and saw-mill on Penn's creek ; Trester, Michael, 
saw-mill; Walter, John, Jacob, junior, David, and Philip; Weirick, 
William, saw-mill; Witmer, Peter, junior, saw-mill; Wolfe, John 
and George, junior ; Young, George ; Zering, John. 

March 28, petition presented to the House, asking Buffalo creek 
to be declared a public highway up as far as Rockey's mills. 

In September, the yellow fever prevailed so badly, that the Supreme 
Court held no session in Philadelphia. It broke out early in August^ 
and continued its ravages until November. Over four thousand 
deaths in that period, out of a population of fifty thousand. 

In October, Thomas Mifflin re-elected Governor. Vote in North- 
umberland county, Mifflin, 1 443 ; Muhlenberg, 514. The candidates 
for Senate were WiUiam Hepburn, Daniel Montgomery, Evan Owen, 
Samuel Wallace, and Bernard Hubley, and William Hepburn was 
elected. The candidates for Assembly were Josiah Haines, James 
Davidson, William Cooke, Samuel Dale, John White, Jacob Fulmer, 
and John Weitzel. The candidates for County Commissioner were 
Chistopher Dering, John Buyers, David Ireland, Robert Clarke, John 
Thornburg, Charles Gobin, and William Bonham. 



1793.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2S1 

December 1 2 was observed in the churches as a day of humiHation 
and thanksgiving, for removing the plague from Philadelphia. 

In December, the court-house and jail at Sunbury were in such 
ruinous condition, that the president and associate judges threatened 
the commissioners with prosecution, "unless new buildings are com- 
menced next year." 

Deaths. 

Nicholas Smith, White Deer. 

George Barnhart, East Buffalo. 

James Ferguson, Buffalo. His children were Mrs. William Thomp- 
son, Mrs. Hugh McConnel, Mrs. Charles Hummel, and a son, John, 
married to David Hanna's daughter. 

In West Buffalo, 2 2d April, Daniel Campbell, a soldier during the 
whole war of the Revolution. He married Catherine Klinesmith, 
who was wounded, as described ante page 190, and had by her two 
children, John and Ann. John died near Mififlinburg. Ann married 
Samuel B. Barber. Campbell had received a land warrant for one 
hundred acres, and, in order to locate it. Barber and wife had to 
make proof of their identity. Catherine Chambers, the widow, and 
Baltzer Klinesmith, junior's, depositions were taken ; on file at Lew- 
isburg. _ - ■ 

Robert McCorley, of White Deer, died in the fall. Left widow, 
Anna, and children, Isabella, wife of William McLaughlin ; Mary 
Seidel, Robert, James, Roley, (still living, 1877,) and Jacob, after- 
wards member of Assembly. 

Levi Vanvolsen lived in Dry valley, and had a distillery. A girl, 
living with him, took one of his children into the still-house, and 
placed it upon a barrel, and went to draw some beer. The child fell 
off into a vessel of boiling mash, and was scalded to death. The girl, 
Nancy Grimes, afterwards married Jeremiah Speddy. 



1^94. 




First BAPxrsT Settlers— Sample of Mr. Morrison's Sermons — Reverend 

GrEORGE GeISTVVEIT ExCITEMENT INCIDENT TO THE WhISKY INSURREC- 
TION — County Politics — Election Returns — Flavel Roan's Poetry. 

HOMAS SMITH appointed Justice of the Supreme Court, 
vice William Bradford, resigned. Senator, William Hep- 
burn. Members of Assembly, Flavel Roan, George 
Hughes and Jacob Fulmer. Henry Vanderslice, Jailer. 
County Commissioners, Robert Fleming, Richard Sherer, and Chris- 
topher Bering. 

On the 8th of January a special election was held for a Senator, 
in the place of William Montgomery, resigned. William Hepburn 
was elected by sixty-four majority over Rosewell Wells, for the un- 
expired term. 

Among the Officers of West Buffalo — John Reznor, Adam Laugh- 
lin, and William Moore, assessors. 

The additional Taxableswere — James Barklow, John Barton, John 
Kleckner, Solomon Kleckner, Benjamin Jones, Conrad Coons. The 
name of Jacob Groshong disappears from the list, and his mill is 
assessed to Enoch Thomas. 

Additional Residents of Mifflinbiirg — John Irvin, store -keeper ; 
Henry Neal, Ludwig Gettig, Jacob Welker, William Welker, Israel 
Ritter, John Earnhart. 

Of Lewlsburg — Alexander McBeth, Matthias Shaffer, Hugh Mc- 
I^aughlin, William Stedman, Esquire. 

282 



1794.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 283 

First Residents of New Berlin — Hugh Beatty, George Moyer, 
Christopher Miller, Zeba Smith, Philip Harmony, William Black, 
John Mitchell, and Martin Carstetter. 

Among the names of those who moved into the Valley this year, 
I note particularly James McClellan, Esquire, and Gabriel Morrison, 
school-teachers, both from Chester county; widow Mary Harris, 
grandmother of William Laird Harris, of East Buffalo ; John Betz, 
and Samuel Baum. 

Improvements — The bridge across the Buffalo creek, at its mouth, 
For this, the court of quarter sessions directed an allowance of ;^5o, 
($133 33.) It was without a roof. Travel now deserted the road 
by way of the ferry, where the iron bridge now (1877) stands, for 
the road on the river bank. Seventy-seven years elapse, and the 
engines at the boat-yard of Frick, Billmyer & Co. frighten it back 
again. Stedman and Smith keep store at Lewisburg. The court- 
house at Sunbury was commenced. William Gray, of Sunbury, 
Alexander Hunter, and John Weitzel were the trustees for build- 
ing it. 

O. N. Worden, in a short history of the Baptist churches, pub- 
lished in Meginness' History of the West Branch, quotes from the 
minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, (1794:) "A letter 
was received and read from the church in Buffalo Valley, Northum- 
berland county, requesting to be received into the association. Post- 
poned, no messenger appearing to receive the right hand of fellow- 
ship." Mr. Worden adds that there were a few Baptists and preach- 
ing stations in Buffalo Valley after the Revolution, but there is no 
knowledge of any Baptist church in Buffalo Valley until the forma- 
tion of the Lewisburg church, in 1844. 

Colonel James Moore informs me that Colonel William Cham- 
berlin was a Baptist ; and after his arrival in the Valley, with other 
New Jersey people of the same persuasion, he probably made an 
effort to establish a Baptist church, which was abandoned, on ac- 
count of the distance the people lived from each other. 

Additional Taxables, East Buffalo — Beatty, James; Bickle, Chris- 
topher ; distillery, erected by Conrad Reedy ; Elliot, George ; Free- 
man, Doctor ; Pfreemer, Reverend George ; Gray, Robert ; Harris, 
Widow Mary ; Hoy, John ; Lytle, Anthony ; Lutz, Jacob ; Mc- 
Clellan, James ; McConnel, William ; McLaughlin, John ; Schrack, 



^84 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1794. 



Benjamin ; Smith, William, store-keeper, Lewisburg ; Steel, David ; 
Stockman, Nathan; Thompson, Benjamin. 

Additional Taxables, White Deer — Armstrong, Andrew ; Awl, 
Samuel ; Elder, James and John ; Fisher, Christian ; Goodlander, 
Christian; Henderson, William ; Hilliard, Guy; Hoffman, John ; 
Jordan, Widow ; Luther, Andrew ; McCorley, Widow ; McGines, 
Thomas ; Martin, Hugh ; Reninger, George ; Riddle, George ; 
Woods, John. 

Penn's — Drum, Charles, grist and saw-mill ; Forey, Christian ; 
Hendricks, Samuel ; Landis, George ; Menges, Adam, grist and 
saw-mill ; Ott, George ; Page, Abraham, still ; Pawling, Joseph ; 
Reish, Daniel, saw-mill ; Ritter, Simon, still ; Stober, William ; 
Tryon, Frederick, fiddle ; Wetzel, Philip. 

Beaver — Aurand, Henry and George ; Cummings, James ; Ewing, 
Thomas ; Ewing, John ; Gill, William ; Hendricks, Jacob, mill ; 
Harman, Samuel ; Hileman, Adam, mill ; Romich, Joseph ; Ship- 
ton, Thomas ; Shultz, John ; Troxell, John ; Wilson, Moore. 

Dietrich Aurand, who had followed milling at different places 
down the river, removed, with his family, into the Valley, and set- 
tled on a farm on Turtle creek, midway between its source and out- 
let, about five miles above Jenkins' mill. The farm he was on had 
a reserved water right, and was given to him by his father, with the 
design that he should build a merchant mill on it, and he intended 
so to do ; but the Hessian fly having proved very destructive to the 
wheat crops for upwards of ten years, he lost severely in purchases 
of wheat for the French, and lost by bailing, so he could not build 
the mill, and had to sell and remove to an adjoining farm, in 1801. 

Mr. Morrison's Sermons. 

The late James McClellan, Esquire, left his father's home, near 
Fagg's Manor church, Chester county, on the 2d of April. He had 
been in the habit for years of writing down a skeleton of the ser- 
mons of Messrs. Sample, Latta, senior and junior. Smith, senior 
and junior, Barr, Dayton, Mitchel, Findley, and others, who filled 
the pulpit there. The last, by Mr. Sample, was March 15. Then 
his manuscript is destroyed, and the next that can be made out is 
1 8th of May, John xv, from the i6th to the end, by Mr. Morrison. 



1794.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 285 

He says parsed by Mr. Morrison, and nothing but what is clearly- 
contained in the verses offered. From the few skeletons preserved by 
Esquire McClellan, Mr. Morrison seems to have fallen into the lazy 
habits, still indulged in by some of our present preachers, of com- 
menting on quite a number of verses, instead of delivering a logical 
and prepared discourse on one theme. For instance, his fast-day 
sermon, June 13, on Matthew v, ist to the 9th, is stenographed 
thus: "This is Christ's sermon on the mount. He went up on a 
mountain,' some of the commentators say, because the law was given 
on a mountain. However, he made choice of this place to deliver 
his sermon. Verse 2 : He opened his mouth, expressive of deliber- 
ation, judgment, and authority, and taught. Verse 3 : This cannot 
mean poor in possession, as some allow, as some are poor and 
wicked ; but it means those children of God who are broken under 
a sense of guilt, whatever their external circumstances may be, but 
frequently it is that of middle circumstances. Verse 5 : The ' meek ' 
does not mean the external, affected pohsh which prevails ; it means 
a christian behavior, whereby he serves God as becometh Christians," 
&c., to the end. Perhaps we do injustice to Mr. Morrison's mem- 
ory by putting on record this " Chat band" style of preaching, but 
it is the only memorial, perhaps, in existence to throw any light on 
his pulpit services, not abilities, may be, as he could make a flaming 
political harangue. 

At a meeting of the German Reformed Synod, held at Read- 
ing, in May, the Reverend George Geistweit was licensed as a 
minister, and a call immediately presented him from the Shamokin 
churches. The congregations in all these regions had been vacant 
since the Reverend J. Rahauser left them, in 1792. Mr. Geistweit 
preached statedly at Selinsgrove, Sunbury, &c., and occasionally in 
Buffalo Valley, in the newly-built town of New Berlin, at Penn's 
creek, &c. He labored here until the year 1804, when he accepted 
a call to York, Pennsylvania. He died there, November 11, 1 83 1 , 
aged seventy years, and was buried in the Reformed grave-yard 
there. There are still (1857) some people living in the Valley who 
were confirmed and married by him, and speak of him with great 
affection and gratitude Doctor Harbaugh. 

Mr. Geistweit bears the enviable reputation of having been one 
of the kindest and most benevolent of men. It is reported of him 



286 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1794. 

that, on one occasion, he even took the hat from his own head and 
gave it to a poor wanderer, whose destitute condition appealed to 
his charity. — Reverend D. Y. Heisler, Fathers German Reformed 
Church, volume 3, page 77. 

The Whisky Jnsurrecfion. 

September 30. The summer and fall of this year are noted for 
the excitement through the State, culminating in the whisky insur- 
rection. Some of the whisky boys determined to erect a liberty 
pole, at Northumberland; Judge William Wilson, of Chillisquaque, 
and Judge Macpherson, of Dry Valley, hearing of it, determined to 
prevent it. They called upon Daniel Montgomery, also "a justice, 
to assist them. He told them he would pull at the rope if the 
people required it. He, however, went with them, but rendered 
them no assistance in suppressing the disturbance. A fight took 
place ; Judge Wilson read the riot act, as he called it, to disperse 
the crowd, but they paid no attention to it. One of them presented 
his musket at the judge, but the old revolutionary captain cocked 
his pistol and made him put down the musket, under the penalty of 
having his brains blown out. They arrested the judge. He would 
not give bail, and they were afraid to put him to jail. In the melee, 
Jasper Ewing, the prothonotary, drew his pistol and snapped it at 
William Cooke. See the case reported in i ^eates, 419. Kennedy's 
Gazette, of 3d December, has General Henry Lee's proclamation 
to the people of western Pennsylvania, dated at camp, at Parkinson's 
ferry, November 8, in command of the troops of New Jersey, Mary- 
land, and Virginia. Also, an advertisement of Doctor Priestly's 
works, he was then publishing. 

Indictments were found versus Robert Irwin, Daniel Montgomery, 
John Frick, William Bonham, John Mackey, senior, and Samuel 
McKee. Mr. Meginness says they were tried in Philadelphia, con- 
victed, and sentenced, and that General Washington pardoned them 
at the end of twenty days. His account of the riot is, that the 
liberty pole was erected at the corner of Second and Market streets, 
in Northumberland. The arsenal was under care of Robert Irwin, 
(grandfather of the Nesbit brothers of Lewisburg.) The rioters 
took possession of the arsenal, and distributed the arms. The pole 
was driven full of nails, and guarded day and night. John Brady, 



1794.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 287 

junior, was deputy marshal, and a very determined man. A col- 
lision was imminent, when Captain Robert Cooke's company, from 
Lancaster, arrived, and dispersed the rioters at the point of the bay- 
onet. An axe was called for to cut the pole down. Mrs. Bernard 
Hubley came running with one, her sister, Mrs. Jacob Welker, met 
her and tried to take the axe. Mrs. Hubley got past her, and the 
pole came down. 

This company passed through Buffalo Valley. At Andrew Bill- 
myer's, a little beyond Lewisburg, a pole had been erected, but the 
report of the advancing troops got there before they did, and the pole 
was cut down and hid. The soldiers could not find it, and took their 
revenge in drinking up all the whisky, eating everything in the 
house, leaving word that Uncle Sara would pay the bill. 

Politics. 

By an act of the 2d of April, Dauphin and Northumberland con- 
stituted our congressional district, and by the act of the 2 2d of 
April, Northumberland, Luzerne and Mifflin our senatorial district, 
electing two members for the term of four years, and Northumber- 
land became entitled to three members of Assembly. 

Slates were at that early day made at Philadelphia, but usually 
smashed by the people. George Green writes from Philadelphia to 
Robert Irwin, September 24: 

' ' Son Robert : I am at loss to know whether the county of North- 
umberland or the county of Mifflin, as I understand they are in 
one district, is entitled to one or two Senators. If two, Mr. Mar- 
tin, I hear, is to run in your county, and there is a certain Mr. John 
Culbertson mentioned in the other county. I look upon him as a 
good man, and if there are two for the district, I could wish the two 
above-mentioned to run- if but one for the district, you may act as 
you think proper. I think they are both good men. There are 
great preparations being made here for an army to go to the Fort 
Pitt country to subdue the rioters, as they are called. It appears to 
me to be a serious affair. How it will turn out only time can tell." 

The following schedule of election returns is printed in full, so as 
to show the strength of party in each election district in the county. 
I found it among Flavel Roan's papers, kindly loaned me by his 
nephew, Flavel R. Clingan, of Kelly township. 



2S8 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



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1794.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 28g 

Samuel Maclay's large majority will be remarked ; also, the still 
greater popularity of Flavel Roan, as he has a majority in every elec- 
tion district. It will be noticed that the federalists ran three revolu- 
tionary officers, Surgeon Davidson, Colonel Cooke, and Major Abra- 
ham Scott, for Assembly, yet they were largely defeated by civilians ; 
Republicans, as the opposition called themselves. This must be 
attributed to the personal influence of William and Samuel Maclay, 
and the excitement caused by the whisky tax. William Maclay, I 
infer from his private journal, differed with General Washington 
very early in the first session of C-ongress. Tlie Maclay s, though 
aristocratically descended, their ancestor being Baron Fingal, were 
intensely democratic in sentiment. We notice William Maclay 
grumbles at the state or ceremony of Washington's intercourse with 
Congress and the public ; his objections to the President's pres- 
ence while business was transacted, and his boldness in speaking 
against the President's measures in open Senate, and the President 
a listener. These are matters more proper for a biograpiiy of Mr. 
Maclay; but their reflex influence upon Northumberland county 
elections must be noted in these Annals. 

It will be noticed that Robert Irwin has the highest vote for 
sheriff". Nevertheless, Governor Mifflin appoints the next highest, 
John Brady, a Federalist. The law then gave the Governor the 
privilege of appointing from the two highest candidates. Henry 
McAdam was elected coroner over Henry Lebo, Paul Baldy, John 
Gray, &c. Henry Vanderslice was elected county commissioner 
over Charles Gobin, Thomas Forster, &c. Joseph Barnett, Hugh 
Beatty, and Robert Clarke, each, had quite a number of votes for 
Assembly. 

In the case of the sheriff, many depositions were filed by the 
friends of Irwm and those of Brady. In one by John McGrath, he 
says, having a store to build for Mr. Irwin, on the 29th of Septem- 
ber, when the tree was hauled in to make the " liberty pole," he 
watched the pole during the night, using the* unfinished store-room 
for that purpose, without Mr. Irwin's knowledge or concurrence ; 
that the night of the watch Mrs. Brady gave him a quart of whisky 
to treat the watch with ; that Lawrence Campbell brought a quart of 
brandy, and said that Mr. Brady had sent it ; that John Brady said 
his brother had no more sense than Jimmy Logan, and while his 
19 



Z()0 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1794. 

brother was cutting the pole down here, he was helping to raise one 
in Milton, and that if they would raise another, he would put a silk 
flag on it at his own expense. 

John Tietsworth swore, a voter in Buffalo told him that when he 
proposed the name of Brady for sheriff, in Buffalo, " he liked to have 
got his head broke for doing it," &c. 

A memorial to the Governor, signed by William Wilson, William 
Hepburn, Jasper Ewing, Wilham Gray, Jonathan Walker, Thad- 
deus Hamilton, Daniel Smith, John Kidd, Bernard Hubley, Joseph 
J. Wallis, and B. W. Ball, sets forth, "that since the commence- 
ment of the insurrection to the westward, this county has furnished 
daily proofs of a disposition inimical to the cause of Government, 
by erecting what they call liberty poles. One attempt has been 
made by the friends of Government to cut down these poles, which 
was attended with imminent danger to the lives of some of our best 
citizens. The arrival of our friends from Luzerne gave great ac- 
tivity to the spirit of the county. They were a standard about 
which the friends of order might rally, and an object of dread and 
hatred to the party in opposition. After they had been here a i&\^ 
days, General Wilson and Judge Macpherson issued warrants against 
a number of persons who had been most active in opposition. The 
sheriff served them, and reported that they willingly submitted and 
entered into recognizances. But the moment they had done so, 
we are informed, that they set out through the country with inflam- 
matory falsehoods against some of our good citizens who were can- 
didates. Of John Brady, a candidate for the sheriff's office, and a 
sworn friend of Government, they reported that he had rode his 
horse over a pole before it was raised, and that he or his brother 
had assisted in cutting down a pole, and if he was elected, he would 
summon juries friendly to the Government, and that by it they 
would all be hung." 

They allege that, but for these reports, Brady would have been 
elected. They further'represent John Brady to be strongly in favor 
of the Government ; that his father and brother were killed by the 
Indians, and that he had two brothers in the United States service, 
and allege that Irwin sympathized with the whisky insurrectionists, 
and ask Governor Mifflin to appoint Brady, although they admit he 
was two hundred votes behind Irwin. 



'1794."! ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2gi 

David Hammond testified that the report among the people was, 
that William Perry Brady had cut down the liberty or whisky pole 
at Northumberland, and that they would not vote for John Brady 
on that account, " as they believed he was against the pule. " 

John Hayes (Esquire) testified "that he saw at Derrstown, in Buf- 
falo township, Robert Irwin, as active a person as there was there in 
helping to put up a pole that was erected there, with a large flag with 
a motto thereon, ' Liberty ;' that the people said Brady was for the 
Government, and, if he was elected, he would do everything in his 
power against them, as they had been active in raising the pole." 

Samuel Maus testified ' ' that he saw John Brady assist raising the 
first pole at Northumberland, and had heard him say that he had 
helped raise a pole in Buffalo, and another in Milton, and that he 
would purchase a very genteel large flag for the next pole at North- 
umberland, and that his brother was a damned rascal for cutting 
down the first pole ; that John Brady's girl brought the brandy to 
the people who were watching the tree for the pole the night before 
it was raised, and the girl told the people the brandy came from Mr. 
Brady, upon which the people cried out huzzah ! for John Brady's 
brandy ! " 

William Spring certified that some time in October last John Mason, 
of Northumberland town, came to James Tawar & Co.'s store and 
ordered a sufficient piece of red Persian to make colors for the lib- 
erty pole, and directed it to be charged to John Brady's account, or 
his own, whichever I thought proper. 

Henry Lebo testified that when the first pole was set up in North- 
umberland, the people, on motion of Mr. Eddy, formed a circle, and 
sat down, said Eddy in the chair ; that Robert Brady came into the 
ring with two case bottles of whisky, and called upon him (Lebo) 
to tell the people this was John Brady's treat, John Brady being in 
the company; that this deponent, thinking his neighbor Irwin 
should not be behind in treating the people, went to Irwin's store, 
and not finding him at home, asked the clerk for a half gallon of 
whisky, who refused. Mrs. Irwin was then applied to, and she 
refused; that he then got a half gallon on his own account, took it 
out to the people, who, thereupon, drank his health. 

James Faulkner testified he heard Irwin say that a friend of Brady's 
told him, "that at a collection of a number of people in Younk- 



2g2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. (1794. 

manstown, (a village in Buffalo,) at the raising of a liberty pole, 
John Brady came along in his route electioneering, at which place 
he expressed himself too freely against such unlawful measures, 
which exasperated the people so much, that it had completely ruined 
his election in the Buffalo district." 

Jonathan Walker (afterwards Judge Walker,) testifies " that John 
Brady always was, and still is, opposed to liberty poles ; that Wil- 
liam Bonham, John Mackey, and Daniel Montgomery, were the prin- 
cipal persons concerned in raising the pole at Northumberland ; 
that Daniel Montgomery told him that he was determined to run 
Irwin in his own defense, as a number of them might be indicted 
for erecting hberty poles, and they had no favors to expect from John 
Brady if he should succeed ; that Bonham said at first that he would 
give all his interest to, and make all the Methodists in the county 
vote for, John Brady, but he had changed around to Irwin, and run 
a dead ticket for him," &c., &c. 

Governor Mifflin, in a note to James Trimble, Deputy Secretary, 
says that he has "shown the depositions produced by the friends of 
the Government in favor of Brady, the lowest on the return, to Mr. 
Ingersoll, (the Attorney General,) and he conceives it proper that 
Brady should be commissioned. . Therefore, let the commission forth- 
with issue." 

A Specimen of Flavel Roan's Poetry, taken from Kennedy's Gazette 

of May 14, 1794. 
Mr. Kennedy, 

Please to insert the following advertisement, and oblige yours, 
dr'c., Flavel Roan. 

I am an old man, my case is quite common, 
I want me a wife, a likely young woman. 
I late had an old one, but three years ago. 
She sickened and died, and left me in woe ; 

I whin'd J. B. preached a sermon when she was buried, 
Wore my old wig a fort'night, then long'd to be married. 

If any one knows where a wife's to be had. 
Such as seventy wishes when reason is dead : 
A girl that will warm my old bones in the winter, 
Let them leave the intelligence with Mr. Printer. 



1794. J ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. sgj 

Deaths. 

Thomas Taggert, at Northumberland. Children: Robert, David, 
William, James ; Elizabeth, married to William Bonham ; Catherine, 
to John Painter ; Christina, to James Semple ; Mary, to Benjamin 
Patterson. 

Lambert Vandyke, of White Deer. Children : John, Henry, James, 
William, Archibald, and Alexander. Lambert's widow afterward 
married Benjamin Thompson. 

George Smith, (of Hartley now.) 

John Fisher, of White Deer. Children : Henry, Paul, John, Mi- 
chael, George, and three daughters. One married Thomas Perry, 
another Jacob Wertz, and another to Philip Haines. John Fisher 
was one of the first settlers. Took up the land in his own name, on 
part of which West Milton now stands. He is buried in the corner 
of the field above John Datisman, Esquire's, store, where the Valley 
road strikes the river. He was the grandfather of Paul and Daniel, 
of Gregg township. 

Casper Bower, (East Buffalo.) Children: Henry, Margaret Hol- 
ler, Susanna Dressier, Catherine Saunders, Maria Flickinger, Barbara 
Smith, and Maria, unmarried then. 

Andrew Fox, (of Hartley now.) 

Mathias Barnhart, East Buffalo. Children : William H., Matthias, 
Lorentz, Magdelena, married to Peter Getz. 

Edward Tate, a soldier of the Revolution. His children were, 
Edward, who moved to Rock Forge, Centre county, around which 
his descendants reside, and William, who married a daughter of 
Hugh Beatty, and whose children live in and near Bellefonte. 

Kennedy's Gazette says that "Colonel Matthew Smith died at 
Milton, aged fifty-four. He was captain of the rifle company that 
went through the wilderness with Arnold to Quebec. A company of 
li^ht infantry, under Major Piatt and Captain James Boyd, marched 
about six miles to Warrior Run burying-ground. Many tears were 
shed over the old patriot's grave, and, after his remains were depos- 
ited, three volleys were fired over his grave." 

He was prothonotary in 1 780. . His son, Wilson Smith, was sheriff 
of Erie county in 1804, and Senator from that district in 181 2. 
Quartermaster General under Governor Snyder, in 1 8 1 4, His grand- 
son, Matthew Smith, still resides in Waterford, in that county. 



1^9^- 




Henry Spyker's House — Politics — Jay's Treaty — GTeorge Kester and 
Anna M. Smith's Bequests for Schools — Death of William Irvine, 
AND Notice of his Family. 

EMBERS of Congress, Samuel Maclay, and Andrew 
Gregg. Senator, Samuel Dale, elected vice William Hep- 
burn, who resigned on the 20th of April. Members of 
the House, Flavel Roan, Hugh White, and Robert Mar- 
tin. County Commissioners, Richard Sherer, C. Dering, and Henry 
Vanderslice. John Brady, Sheriff. 

In East Buffalo, the additional Taxables are — Joseph Phares, John 
Hubler, Jacob Lutz, Job Thomas, Doctor Rosewell Doty. 

John Pollock opened a store in Mr. Lewis' house, in Lewisburg. 

On 5th August, Henry Spyker commenced building the first brick 
house ever erected in Lewisburg, (still standing,) on the corner of 
Front and St. Catherine streets, and owned by James S. Marsh. 
John Meffert, of Tulpehocken, was the contractor. Most of the brick 
were brought from some point down the river, and a few made on 
Thomas Wilson's place, now a part of George Wolfe's, near the fair 
ground. Abraham Troxell did the hauling. 

In White Deer : Archibald Hawthorne appears as a taxable. 

In West Buffalo : John Wintelbleck, John Wilt, Joseph Wilt, 
Adam Armor, and John Collins. 

In Fenn's : George Benfer, Michael Beaver, Peter Hackenberg, 
Samuel McClintock, Philip Yocum, (Big) John Kerstetter. 



1795.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. zgs 

Saturday and Sunday, 24th and 25 th of January, fell the deepest 
snow had for many winters — two feet on the level. From April loth 
to the 19th, the weather was excessively warm, like in the middle of 
summer. 

Thursday, 19th February, was observed as a day of thanksgiving 
and, prayer, upon a proclamation of President Washington. " Good 
George, take care you do not fall," writes Republican Henry Spyker, 
in his diary. 

To April Session, 1795, Hugh Wilson, Henry Dreisbach, Leffard 
Haughawaut, William P. Maclay, C. Baldy, and John Thompson, 
junior, reported that they had laid out a public road from Dreisbach's 
church to the Presbyterian church at Buffalo Cross-Roads. 

PoUilcs. 

Jay's treaty with Great Britain was signed on the 1 9th of Novem- 
ber, 1794. General Washington received a copy on the 7th of 
March, of the present year. An extra session of the Senate was called 
on the 6th of June, and it advised the President to ratify it, except 
one article in relation to the West India trade. While Washington 
was waiting, a little, the progress of events, one of the Virginia 
Senators, S. T. Mason, in violation of the obligation of secrecy, 
sent a copy of it to the Aurora, a violent, partisan Democratic (or 
Republican, as was the party name then) paper, in Philadelphia. It 
was spread before the people without any of the accompanying 
documents or letters, necessary for a fair appreciation of it by the 
people. The treaty was the best that could be obtained at the time, 
and public policy recommended its ratification. Nevertheless, the 
warm feeling of our people towards the French gave the opportunity 
to the politicians to raise a tremendous storm. Meetings were held 
all over the country, and the treaty denounced violently. Jay was 
burned in efhgy, the British minister insulted, and Hamilton stoned 
at a pubHc meeting. We can give no idea of the bitterness engen- 
dered, except by large quotations from speeches and correspondence 
of the day. The clergy, at least many of the prominent ones, took 
part, and some of their vituperations appal us. The upshot of the 
matter was. General Washington stood firm, and the treaty became 



2g6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1795. 



a law. Nevertheless, the party feeling it elicited increased until it 
ended in the overthrow of the Federal party, in the fall of 1800, 

William and Samuel Maclay were the influential men of the middle 
and western portions of Pennsylvania, and were decided Republi- 
cans. Buffalo Valley, ever since a hot place about election times, 
was doubly hot at this time. Samuel Maclay's influence, from his 
good character and ability, was almost unbounded. Nevertheless, 
Mr. Morrison led a determined few in opposition to the dominant 
Republicans. The result was, pew rates ceased in the Buffalo church, 
and we only find the names of William Sherer, John Allen, Joseph 
Allen, John Reznor, George Knox, Walter Clark, Joseph Patterson, 
William Gray, and Thomas Howard, marked as paying up their sti- 
pends. In 1797, the foregoing and William Wilson and William 
Irwin, Fsquire, only are marked as having paid up. In 1798, occur 
the same names only paying up. In 1799 and 1800, the same 
names. In 1801, only the names of George Knox, William Wilson, 
William Gray, Esquire, and Walter Clark. 

Mr. Morrison commenced preaching at Mr. Maclay from the pul- 
pit, and Mr. Maclay refused to go any longer, and, of course, took 
the larger body of the congregation with him. Mr. Morrison alleged 
that the majority had conspired to shut him out of the church, and 
he and his party went so far as to shut themselves out of the church, 
one day, and then went over to the school-house to hear Mr. Mor- 
rison preach, and endeavored to put the odium of it upon the ma- 
jority. 

Marriage. 

December, 16, Tobias Sheckler to Catherine, daughter of George 
Frederick. 

Deaihs. 

John Thornburg, of Lewisburg. Charles Pollock, White Deer. 
Henry Bolender. Theobald Miller, of Penn's. His widow married 
George May, of Buffalo. His children : Benjamin, who went down 
the Ohio, and was killed by the Indians; Valentine, father of Car- 
penter John, of Lewisburg; Margaret, married to John Metzgar; 
Catherine, to John Adam; Mary, to Phihp Moore, of Freeburg; 
Valentine, married a daughter of Joseph Evans, of Lewisburg, served 
in the war of 1812 ; father of Reverend Theobald, of Ohio. 



1795.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 297 

George Kester, (Hartley now.) ' In his will he provided for the 
erection of a school-house on his place, which was to be furnished 
with a good stove, at the' expense of his estate. .This is still known 
as the Kester school-house. A burying-ground is attached, in which 
are interred many of the old settlers. Kester's children were Peter, 
Elizabeth, Christina, and Henry. 

Anna M. Smith, of East Buffalo. She left in her will ^30, to 
erect a school-house for poor children on Turtle creek. 

William Irvine, died November 18. His place was the "Thomas 
Wilson" warrantee tract, about a mile above Rengler's mill, adjoining 
then John Beatty, Wendell Baker, James Magee and John Sierer, two 
hundred and sixty acres ; ninety cleared. It was sold by his execu- 
tors, on 4th May, 1798, to Peter Dunkle, for $1,500. 

William Irvine came into the Valley, probably in the year 1774, 
when he patented the tract. He is marked on the assessments 
William Irvine, (Irish,) to distinguish him from William Irwin, Es- 
quire, who is marked as "late of Carlisle." His wife was an Arm- 
strong, connected with the family at Carlisle, and his eldest daughter, 
Catherine, (afterwards Catherine Wilson,) was born November 16, 
1758. He served during the French-Indian war, 175 4-1 763. I 
have his powder horn, on which are etched the stations between 
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, to Fort Stanwix and Crown Point, the 
plan of Fort Duquesne, the English insignia '■'■ Honi soit que mal,^' 
Indians with scalping knives, &c. With the runaway of 1779, he 
removed his family to Cumberland county. The spring served as 
a hiding place for many things, and a griddle, now in possession of 
J. M. Linn, still shows some rust-holes gotten there. His wife died 
near Carlisle, and he returned to his place in the Valley, accom- 
panied by his daughter Catherine, and from her have come down 
many incidents of the hardships endured by the early settlers. 

When alarmed by incursions of the Indians, they rendezvoused at 
McCandlish's, (now John Lesher's.) Once, when on a flight, the 
quick ear of the father caught the report of a bush cracking behind 
them. He pushed her behind a tree and cocked his rifle, but it was 
only a deer running by. Once they were pursued so close they had 
to leave a cow with a calf only a few days old. He pushed down 
the fence so that she could get into the meadow, and they then fled 
for their lives. 



298 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. (1796. 

Later in life, he married Jane Forster, daughter of John. She died 
in 1824, aged eighty-four, and is buried in the Lewis grave-yard. 
His children were, i, Catherine, married to Hugh Wilson, father 
of Doctor W. L Wilson, still living ; Francis, who died February 
15, 1873, Mrs. James F. Linn, Mrs. William Stedman; 2, Elizabeth, 
married to William Love ; 3, Nancy, to William Milford. (The lat- 
ter took a boat load of produce to New Orleans, in 1809, and was 
never heard of afterward.) His wife survived him forty-one years ; 
4, Mary, married to James McClellan, Esquire ; 5, Sarah, married 
to Walter Charters. William Irvine's father's name was Andrew, of 
the county of Fermanagh, Ireland ; and John, Matthew, and Thomas, 
of Philadelphia, frequently mentioned in the Pennsylvania Archives 
in connection with the purchase of ships for the navy and powder for 
the continental army, were William's cousins, as were also General 
William Irvine, of the Pennsylvania Line, Matthew, the celebrated 
surgeon of Lee's legion, and x\ndrew, who survived so many wounds 
received at Paoli. 



1^96. 



Bishop jSTewcomer Visits the Valley — List of Inhabitants of East 
Buffalo. Lewisburg, New Berlin, West Buffalo, White Deer, and 
Mahantango. 

ENATOR, Samuel Dale, re-elected in October. Mem- 
bers of Assembly, Hugh White, John White, and Thomas 
Grant. William Cooke, commissioned Associate Judge 
January 19th, vice Samuel Maclay, resigned December 
7, 1795. County Commissioners, Joseph Dering, Henry Vander- 
slice, and Nathan Stockman. Coroner, Williana McAdam. Briga- 
dier General, William Wilson. Brigade Inspector, Bernard Hubley. 
Peter Hosterman, Justice of the Peace, commissioned March 14; 
George Youngman, March 17 ; Frederick Stees, June 9. 




1796.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 2gg 

January i8, George Clark, Lazarus Finney, and Roan McClure 
made a valuation of the real estate, &c., of White Deer township. 
Real estate, $37,445; personal, $4,438; buildings, $6,448. 

March 18, Conrad Weiser moved from Tulpehocken to his place 
on the Isle of Que. — Spyker' s Journal. 

May 6, Bishop Christian Newcomer, of the United Brethren 
Church, visited the Valley, and held meetings on the 6th, 7th, 8th, 
and 9th. Many souls confessed their sins, among the rest a woman 
came forward leading her daughter. Blessed be God ! she, with 
many others, found mercy. — Newcomer' s Journal. 

James Jenkins sold his slave, Tom, to Colonel John Patton, of 
Centre county. Tom was thirty years old when the emancipation 
act of 1780 was passed, but was registered defectively, and hved in 
the belief that he was still a slave. After living many years with 
Colonel Patton, he came back to Buffalo Valley, and became a 
charge. The overseers removed him to Ferguson, in Centre, and that 
township had to keep him. 

List of Inhabitants of East Buffalo. 

The occupation, where not mentioned, is that of farmer ; improve- 
ments, when not added to the name, are log-house and barn; c, for 
cabin : Alsbach, Mathias ; Anderson, William, c ; Aurand, John ; 
Aurand, Dietrich, c ; Aurand, Peter, c ; Bailey, John ; Baker, Wen- 
dell ; Baldy, Christopher ; Barber, Martha, c ; Barnhart, Henry ; 
Barton, John, on Jasper Ewing's place ; Baum, Charles ; Baum, 
Samuel ; Beatty, Alexander ; Beatty, John ; Betzer, William ; Betz, 
Abram ; Betz, Solomon; Bickel, Christopher ; Bickel, Jacob ; Bill- 
myer, Andrew, tavern-keeper; Bo veard, James, c; Bower, Casper; 
Bower, George; Bower, Jacob; Burd, David, c ; Campbell, John, 
on William Gray's place ; Carothers, Samuel ; Cherry, Charles, on 
C. Baldy's place ; Christ, Adam ; Croninger, Joseph ; Colpetzer, 
Adam, c ; Conaly, John, distiller ; Connell, WiUiam, c ; Coryell, 
Abram, joiner ; Coryell, George ; Covert, Luke, c ; Cox, Tunis ; 
Dale, Samuel, Esquire ; Davis, Robert ; Derr, George ; Dempsey, 
Widow, c ; Dennis, John ; Dersham, Christian ; Donnell, Andrew, 
Esquire ; Doughman, Stephen ; Dreisbach, Henry ; Dreisbach, 
Jacob; Dreisbach, Martin ; Dunlap, William, c; Dunkle, Jacob; 



joo ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1796. 



Eaylor, Frederick, c; Emrey, Jacob; Emrey, William, a blacksmith, 
on John Sierer's place; Eyerly, Abram, stone barn; Farley, John, 
c ; Farley, Michael ; Fisher, George ; Fisher, William ; Foster, 
James ; Fought, Michael ; Frantz, Ludwig ; Frock, Henry, c; Free- 
man, Reverend George ; Freeman, Nathaniel; Frederick, Peter; 
Frederick, George ; Foster, William ; Gass, George ; Gass, Peter ; 
Goodman, George, c; Goodman, John ; Gray, Robert, c; Green- 
hoe, John ; Grogg, Peter, c ; Groninger, Joseph, c ; Grove, Mi- 
chael, c ; Grunner, Jacob, c; Gundy, Christian, grist and saw-mill 
at George Derr's ; Harris, Widow; Hartley, John; Haughawaut, 
Leffard, c ; Hayes, John, surveyor ; Hayes, David ; Holdship, 
Thomas, shoe-maker; Holeman, Martin ; Housel, Peter ; Hoy, John; 
Hoy, Philip ; Hubler, John ; Hummel, John ; Hummel, James, 
house -joiner ; Hunter, Samuel; Huntsman, John, junior; Hunts- 
man, James, senior; Irwin, James, c; Jenkins, James, stone grist- 
mill ; Kemble, Joseph ; Kemberling, Jacob, c ; Knight, Isaac, c ; 
Lincoln, Mishael ; Long, George; Lowrey, Hugh, c; Lowrey, 
Widow; Lutz, Jacob ; McClellan, James ; McConnel, William, c ; 
McGee, James ; McLaughlin, John ; Maclay, Samuel, Esquire ; 
Macpherson, John ; Maize, Michael ; Markle, John ; May, George ; 
Metzgar, Jacob ; Miller, Benjamin ; Miller, Christian ; Miller, Con- 
rad ; Miller, George, c ; Mizener, John ; Mook, Jacob, c ; Morrison, 
Reverend Hugh; Morrison, Gabriel, c; Morton, Japhet; Moyer, 
Michael, saw-mill ; Nichols, James, fuller ; Nickle, Samuel ; Over- 
meier, George, senior ; Overmeier, George, junior ; Overmeier, Peter ; 
Peters, Henry, c ; Peters, Phihp ; Piper, William ; Poak, William ; 
Poak, Thomas, malster; Pollock, John, store-keeper ; Pontius, Fred- 
erick; Pontius, Nicholas; Pontius, Henry; Porter, Samuel; Ray, 
John ; Reed, Robert, c ; Reedy, Conrad ; Reedy, Jacob ; Rengler, 
John, saw and grist-mill; Rees, Daniel, c ; Rees, Thomas ; Rich- 
ard, Henry ; Rote, John ; Sailor, Henry, c ; Schrack, Benjamin ; 
Scroggs, Allen, c; Seebold, Christopher, grist-mill ; Sheaffer, Henry, 
(ferry;) Sheckler, Tobias ; Sheckler, Daniel ; Shipman, John, c ; 
Shively, Henry, c ; Shuck, John ; Sierer, John ; Smith, Michael, 
blacksmith ; Stadler, Valentine, c ; Stahl, Philip, saw-mill ; Steel, 
David, blacksmith ; Sterrett, Thomas ; Struble, Conrad; Struble, 
Adam ; Snoddy, James ; Templeton, Samuel ; Thomas, Job ; 
Thompson, William, c, school-master ; Thompson, James ; Thomp- 



1796.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jor 



son, Benjamin ; Thompson, John, senior; Thompson, John, junior; 
Toner, Charles ; Treasonrighter, Conrad ; Ward, Thomas ; Weiser, 
Christopher, fulling-mill ; Wilson, Hugh ; Wilson, Thomas ; Wine- 
garden, Widow; Wise, Peter; Wise, Frederick, blacksmith; Wise, 
Frederick; Wise, Jacob; Voneida, Phihp. 

Lewisdurg—A.rm's.ixong, William, tailor; Beyer, Doctor Charles, 
log house ; Black, James, stone house, store-keeper ; Caldwell, 
Thomas, log house, store-keeper; Dunlap, John, ferry and tavern, 
renter to James Black, $120; Ensworth, Andrew, log house, peddler ; 
Evans, Joseph, log house and shop, cabinet-maker ; Fulton, Henry,' 
cabin; Gray, John, tavern; Grove, Adam, carpenter; Grove, Wen- 
dell, carpenter ; Henning, Frederick, tavern, log ; Hyndman, Sam- 
uel ; Kemble, Lawrence, log house, tinner ; Knox, George, tanner ; 
Langs, George, cooper ; Lewis, Alexander, stone house and kitchen, 
and a frame house; McLaughlin. Hugh, tailor; Metzgar, John, two 
houses, store-keeper ; Metzger, Daniel, saddler ; Murphy, John ; 
Poak, William, log house and kitchen, tavern-keeper; Poak, Thomas, 
log house ; Poak, George ; Roan, Flavel ; Sherer, Richard, log 
house ; Stedman, William, stone house ; Shaffer, Matthias, carpen- 
ter ; Troxell, John; Welker, Jacob, log house; Wells, Joseph, 
shoe-maker; Wells, Benjamin, shoe-maker ; Yentzer, Christian, log 
house. 

New Berlin— ^Q^\Xj, William ; Beatty, Hugh ; Black, William ; 
Cook, James; Gill, Isaac ; Henderson, James; Miller, Christian, 
shop-keeper; Mitchell, John; Moyer, George, tailor; Overmeier, 
John; Rerich, William, blacksmith; Seebold, Christian, tavern- 
keeper; Smith, John, tavern-keeper; Smith, Peter, tailor; Specht, 
Adam, shoemaker ; Trester, Martin. 

A List of all the Inhabitants of West Buffalo Towftship, with a 
Description of their Dwellings and Occupations. 

Anthony, George, wheelwright, round log cabin ; Armstrong, 
William, farmer ; Adamson, William, cooper, log cabin ; Ammer- 
man, Daniel, jobber, cabin; Allen, Obediah, farmer, round log 
cabin ; Boerhave, Christopher, blacksmith, scutched log house, 
stable, and cabin shop, one hundred and thirty-seven acres ; Beeb, 
George, cropper; Bruner, Jacob, farmer, cabin, one hundred acres; 



302 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1796. 

Bruner, John, jobber, cabin, one hundred acres ; Brown, John, 
farmer, chip log house and barn, spring-house, shell of a new log 
house, one hundred and seventy-two acres; Brown, Christian, job- 
ber, hewed log house, not lined; Black, William, school-master, chip 
log cabin ; Beigh, Frederick, cordwainer, round log cabin ; Bart- 
ges, Michael, nailor, frame nailor shop ; Ben, James, living with 
his father-in-law ; Books, George, sawyer, log cabin ; Banter, John, 
farmer ; Bole, Henry, farmer, chip log house and barn ; Buckalew, 
Peter, farmer; Bubb, George, farmer^ cabin; Boveard, William, job- 
ber, log house and barn ; Buyers, John, farmer, log cabin ; Barton, 
Kimber, a school-teacher; Clarke, Joseph, colonel's son, farm occu- 
pied by John Conser, one hundred acres ; Carmany, John, cord- 
wainer, small hewed log house ; Cox, William, jobber, hewed log 
house and kitchen ; Christ, Conrad, cooper, round log cabin ; Coon, 
Conrad, cordwainer, round log cabin ; Clay, David, farmer, round 
log cabin ; Conser, John, stiller, log house ; Clark, John, farmer, 
log house ; Coderman, George, farmer, hewed log house ; Clark, 
Joseph, farmer, round log cabin ; Carney, Anthony, blacksmith, 
round log cabin ; Crawford, Edward, farmer, log house ; Crawford, 
William, farmer, log house ; Coderman, David, farmer, log house 
and barn; Carnes, William, farmer; Coderman, Jacob, farmer, 
log cabin ; Chambers, Robert, farmer, log cabin ; Chambers, Mary, 
housekeeper, log cabin ; Chambers, Benjamin, single man ; Der- 
sham, Ludwig, farmer, hewed log house and barn, one hundred 
acres ; Dreisbach, John, gunsmith, hewed log house, stable, brick 
kitchen and frame shop ; Derr, Christian, house carpenter, small 
chip log house; Duncan, James, weaver; Douglass, WiUiam, farmer, 
log house ; Earnhart, John, blacksmith, hewed log house and black- 
smith shop ; Emery, John, blacksmith, hewed log house and shop 
on John Kleckner's place; Evans, Nathan, saddler, round log 
cabin; Emery, Peter, farmer, log cabin; Emery, John, farmer, log 
cabin ; Everet, Abel, miller ; Fry, Jacob, farmer, hewed log house, 
kitchen, barn, and cabin ; Forster, Thomas, farmer, chipped log 
house ; Forster, Robert, farmer, hewed log house ; Fough, Henry, 
round log cabin ; Ford, Thomas, farmer, chip log cabin ; Fisher, 
Peter, sawyer, cabin and saw-mill ; Fiddler, Stephen, blacksmith, 
log house and shop ; Frederick, Thomas, farmer, log house ; Get- 
gen, Ludwig, mason, hewed log house ; Ghien, Nathan, farmer, 



1796.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. , 303 

chipped log cabin ; Gray, Henry, farmer, round log cabin ; Get- 
chey, Adam, farmer, chipped log cabin ; Gast, Jacob, jobber, chip- 
ped log cabin; Glover, John, farmer, hewed log house and round 
log barn, vejyi^ld ; Grim, Jacob, tavern-keeper, hewed log house, 
grist and saw-mill; Gray, George, tenant, log cabin; Hyman, John, 
jobber, small cabin; Holmes, Jonathan, small hewed log house; 
Home, Robert, shop-keeper, hewed log house and chip log stable ; 
Housel, Jacob, farmer, log cabin ; Housel, Martin, farmer, chip 
log house and stable ; Hamilton, Francis, jobber, round log cabin ; 
Humler, Daniel, farmer, chipped log cabin; Helman, John, jobber, 
chipped log cabin ; Hickson, John, farmer, hewed log house ; Hull, 
Thomas, farmer, chipped log cabin ; Hoves, John, farmer, round 
log barn; Hendricks, Henry, sawyer, cabin; Humler, Adam, 
farmer, round log cabin ; Iddings, James, farmer, shell of a cabin ; 
Iddings, William, farmer, chipped log cabin; Irwin, John, shop- 
keeper, hewed log house and round log house ; Johnson, Christopher, 
farmer, grist and saw-mill ; Jones, Benjamin, farmer, chipped log 
house ; Kennedy, Alexander, farmer, chipped log cabin, old stable, 
chipped log house and barn, shell, one hundred and forty acres ; 
Kemple, John, farmer, hewed log house and barn; Keney, David, 
farmer, round log cabin; Kleckner, John, tavern-keeper, barn, 
stable, and spring house ; Kester, Henry, farmer, log house and saw- 
mill ; Kester, Peter, farmer, cabin ; Kester, John, farmer, log cabin ; 
Kester, John, sawyer, log house; Kester, Peter, stiller, cabin; Kleck- 
ner, Solomon^ clock-maker, chipped log cabin ; Lyman, Michael, 
carpenter, hewed log house; Langabaugh, Henry, weaver, hewed 
log house; Leighty, John, tanner, romid log house; Lowdon, 
John, farmer, hewed log house, barn, spring-house, and saw-mill; 
Laughlin, Adam, farmer, log cabin ; Lewis, Paschal, farmer, log 
house ; Mathias, Jacob, jobber, hewed log house and barn, one hun- 
dred acres ; Moor, James, hunter, hewed log cabin ; Moore, Henry, 
cordwainer, round log cabin, log still-house ; Mettlen, Patrick, 
farmer, round log cabin ; Mizner, Adam, farmer, hewed log cabin ; 
Midker, Conrad, farmer, round log cabin thatched ; Mitchell, John, 
farmer, round log cabin ; Miller, Bastian, farmer, round log cabin, 
thatched roofed barn ; Mann, Philip, farmer, log house ; Metzger, 
Henry, jobber, cabin ; Means, Andrew, millwright, log cabin ; 
Mathers, Samuel, farmer, chipped log cabin ; McLain, John, cord- 



304 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. {Vim. 

wainer, hewed log house; McCutchen, Hugh, schoohToaster ; Mc- 
Grady, Alexander, farmer, round log cabin ; McCaley, Alexan- 
der, farmer, round log cabin, barn shingled ; McMurtrie, Hugh, 
farmer, cabin ; Noll, Henry, cropper, cabin building ; Neel, Wil- 
liam, weaver, chipped log weaver shop ; Neel, Henry, tailor, hewed 
log house ; Owens, Abel, farmer, chipped log house ; Pontius, An- 
drew, farmer, house and cabin, barn, one hundred and fifty acres ; 
Pontius, Andrew, junior, farmer, round log house ; Pontius, Henry, 
farmer, hewed log house and log cabin; Peterson, Robert, hunter, 
chipped log house and cabin stable ; Piper, Henry, farmer, hewed 
shell house ; Peters, Michael, round log cabin ; Rockey, Jacob, does 
what he thinks best ; Rearick, John, farmer, hewed log house, spring- 
house and cabin barn ; Richey, Andrew, jobber, cabin ; Rockey, Wil- 
liam, farmer, hewed log house, cabin barn, grist and saw-mill; Rockey, 
John, tavern-keeper, hewed log house and kitchen, round log stable ; 
Rote, George, tavern-keeper ; Ray, George, tavern-keeper, hewed 
log house and barn ; Royer, Peter, farmer, hewed log house and 
barn ; Reed, Mary, Mifflinburg ; Reedy, Nicholas, jobber, log 
house ; Ross, Charles, jobber, scutched house ; Rote, Peter, farmer, 
round log cabin ; Ridabaugh, Michael, farmer, hewed log house and 
barn; Reznor, John, junior, farmer, log house; Reznor, John, 
senior, farmer, round log cabin ; Reznor, George ; Rote, John, 
Jacob, and George ; Reznor, Hugh, Moses Caruther's miller; Rhine- 
macker, Baltzer, farmer, round log cabin ; Spangler, Christian, 
farmer, log house and barn, one hundred and fifty acres ; Spangler, 
John, jobber, one hundred and twenty-one acres ; Shanke, Jacob, 
blacksmith, hewed log kitchen and shop ; Skiles, James, jobber, 
chipped log house, small ; Sample, Nicholas, carpenter, hewed log 
house ; Stotan, William, farmer, chipped cabin, barn and still-house ; 
Shrock, John, farmer, round log cabin ; Smith, John, farmer, round 
cabin, house, and saw-mill, round log cabin ; Shriner, Nicholas, crop- 
per, hewed log cabin ; Shriner, Peter, jobber, hewed log cabin ; Smith, 
Melchior, farmer, chipped log houso; Shirtz, Michael, farmer, log 
house, cabin ; Snook, William, farmer, log house ; Smith, Ludwig, 
farmer, log house, grist and saw-mill ; Smith, David, farmer ; Shri- 
ner, Henry, jobber, log cabin ; Spencer, Joshua, jobber, cabin ; 
Tate, David, farmer, cabin, house, scutched log barn ; Thompson, 
James, farmer, hewed log house, round log cabin ; Thomas, Enoch; 



1796.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. joj 



Tittleman, Godfrey, farmer, round log cabin ; Tibbens, David, saw- 
yer, cabin ; Trippy, George, weaver ; Wise, Jacob, farmer, hewed 
log house, spring-house, and cabin barn ; Wagner, Christopher, car- 
penter, hewed log house ; Welker, William, jobber, hewed log house 
and kitchen; Welker, Jacob, tailor, hewed log house; Williams, 
Benjamin, chipped log house; Wigdon, John, farmer, hewed log 
shell of a house ; Wilson, Hugh, tavern-keeper, hewed log house, red 
log barn, on Colonel Hartley's place ; Wilson, David, farmer, one 
slave ; Wirebaugh, Catherine, house-keeper, log house ; Wirebaugh, 
Nicholas, single man ; Winkelpleck, John, farmer, log house ; Ultz, 
Joseph, farmer, hewed log house, red log stable ; Ultz, John, farmer, 
log cabin, round log stable ; Vorgan, John, farmer, round log cabin ; 
Youngman, George, shop-keeper, hewed log house, shop, scutched 
log stable ; Youngman, Thomas, with his father, a shell of a scutched 
log house ; Youngman, Ehas, hatter, chipped log house ; Young, 
Christian, potter, hewed log house, round log stable ; Zellers, Peter, 
farmer, hewed log house, round log barn ; Zipperneck, Frederick, 
farmer, round log house and barn; Metzgar, Jacob, farmer, round log 
cabin. 

Single Freemen— Ea.rnes, Aaron ; Chambers, Joseph ; Caruthers, 
Moses ; Crotzer, John ; Duncan, James ; Emery, Joseph ; Hunter, 
John ; Love, Alexander ; Moore, Jacob ; Moore, John ; McCalley, 
David; Rockey, Jacob. 

A List of all the Inhabitants of White Deer Township, Dwellings, 
their Occupation, &'c. 

All whose occupations are not named were farmers. Adams, 
Joseph, log house and barn ; Adams, James, square log house and dou- 
ble barn; Allen, Joseph, cabin and still-house ; Allen, John, cabin, 
stable ; Anderson, Gailand, cabin, saddletree-maker ; Awl, Samuel, 
cabin, shoe-maker; Bennage, Simon, log house, one and a half stories, 
double barn ; Bogender, Lemuel, Thomas Howard's place, carpen- 
ter; Bole, Samuel, log house, double barn; Bower, John, cabin 
and stable, shoe-maker ; Boyl, William, tenant of Gideon Smith ; 
Buchanan, David, cabin and stable, millwright ; Carnahan, Robert, 
cabin and still-house ; Chamberlin, William, frame house, log barn, 
oil, grist, and saw-mill, log still-house; Clark, Walter, square log house 
20 



306 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1796. 

and double barn ; Clark, Robert, square log house and double barn ; 
Clark, William, stone house, log barn, still-house ; Clark, George ; 
Cleland, Arthur, cabin and stable ; Clendening, William, cabin, 
weaver ; Coburn, William, cabin and stable ; Connelly, William, cabin, 
weaver ; Coulter, Nathaniel, cabin, laborer ; Darlington, Joseph, 
cabin ; Davidson, Thomas, blacksmith, log house ; Dean, Samuel, 
cabin, no trade ; Dickey, George, saddler ; Dinning, Samuel, log 
house and barn ; Drielly, James, cabin, weaver ; Eaker, Joseph, cabin 
and stable, doctor; Elder, Thomas, school-master, cabin, stable, and 
corn-crib ; Elder, James ; Farley, Caleb, cabin and stable ; Finney, 
Robert, log house and double barn ; Finney, Lazarus, no improve- 
ment ; Fisher, Paul, log house and double barn \ Fisher, Henry, 
cabin and stable ; Fisher, Michael, log house ; Fisher, George, no im- 
provement ; Fisher, Elizabeth ; Fisher, Christian, cabin ; Fisher, 
John, jobber; Freeman, Samuel, cabin, weaver; Fruit, Robert, 
square log house and barn ; Fruit, Richard, log house, one and a 
half stories, stable; Gilliland, Joseph, cabin, cooper; Gillespie, 
Charles, cabin ; Gilman, Henry, large cabin ; Gilman, Jacob, 
large cabin, weaver; Goodlander, Christian, cabin, tailor; Gott- 
shall, John, carpenter ; Graham, Edward, cabin, tailor ; Gray, Wil- 
liam, Esquire, log house, one and a half stories, double barn, and still- 
house ; Groninger, Jacob, lived on William Wilson's place, cabin, 
weaver ; Heckle, Andrew, log house and double barn ; Henderson, 
William, cabin, carpenter, on William Wilson's ; Heriot, Samuel, 
carpenter ; Hies, George, cabin, blacksmith ; High, Peter, carpenter 
and tavern-keeper ; Hill, John, cabin, shoe-maker ; Hill, James, 
small cabin, shoe-maker; Hiiliard, Guy, cabin, shoe-maker; How- 
ard, Thomas, square log house and barn ; Hudson, William, 
cabin, mason ; Huffman, George, log house ; Huffman, John, 
log house and double barn; Hunt, John, cabin, blacksmith; 
Hunter, Agnes, cabin ; Hutchinson, Thomas, square log house, 
(Patterson's place;) Iddings, William, cabin, blacksmith ; Iddings, 
Henry, log house ; Iddings, Jonathan, small cabin ; Iddings, 
Isaac, small cabin ; Irwin, Richard, log house and barn, weaver ; 
Irwin, William, cabin ; Johnson, Jean, cabin, and stable ; Jordon, 
Jean, cabin and barn, clapboard roof; Jordon, William, cabin, 
boatman ; Keller George, small cabin, wheelright ; Kelly, John, 
Esquire, log house and double barn ; Kiles, James, cabin, laborer ; 



1796.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. joj 

Laird, Matthew, log house and barn ; Lantz, Arthur, log house 
and kitchen; Linn, John, log house, one and a half stories, double 
barn, and still-house; Linn, Isaiah, cabin and stable; Lukey, 
John, log house ; Luther, Andrew, cabin and stable, tailor ; Mc- 
Beth, Robert, log house, blacksmith ; McClenachan, Finney, small 
cabin ; McClenachan, William, cabin and stable, carpenter ; Mc- 
Clenachan, Andrew, square log house ; McClure, Roan, cabin and 
double barn ; McCorley, Widow, log house, still-house ; McCorley, 
James, small cabin, laborer ; McGaughey, Andrew, small cabin, 
school-master ; McGinnes, James, weaver ; McKinley, Hugh, small 
cabin, laborer; McLaughlin, James, small cabin, laborer; Mc- 
Laughlin, William, small cabin ; McWilliams, James, small cabin, 
laborer ; Marshall, William, still-house, distiller ; Marshall, Stephen, 
small cabin^ laborer ; Martin, George, log house, old stable, shoe- 
maker; Martin, James, log house; Miller, Samuel, cabin and stable, 
carpenter; Mool, Nicholas, weaver, (John Huffman's;) Moore, 
James, cabin and stable ; Moore, Joseph, log house and double barn ; 
Moore, George, cabin ; Nevius, Christian, log house and double 
barn; Nickles, Thomas, cabin, William Wilson's place; Nogel, 
Charles, log house, carpenter ; Norcross, Abraham, laborer, cabin ; 
Norcfoss, John, frame house, hatter, shop, ferry, and tavern; Painter, 
Jacob ; Pollock, Adam, stone house and double barn ; Pollock, Jo- 
seph, log house and double barn; Rank, John, log house and stable ; 
Reed William, stepson of C. Gillespie ; Reninger, George, grist, 
saw-mill, cabin, and stable; Riddle, George, square log house; 
Rodman, Hugh, carpenter; Shannon, William, weaver; Shaw, 
Hamilton, large cabin, stable ; Shaw, James, cabin ; Sherer, Rich- 
ard, cabin, still-house, and barn ; Smith, Gideon, log house, double, 
barn, and still-house, joiner; Smith, Catherine, grist and saw-mill ; 
Smith, Peter, cabin; Smith, John, cabin; Smith, Ludwig; Snook, 
Phihp, double cabin; Steel, John, log house; Steel, Alexander, 
small cabin; Steel, William, tanner, log house, stable, tan-yard; 
Stillwell, Daniel, square log house ; Sweesy, Daniel, cabin ; Thomp- 
son, William, carpenter, cabin ; Thompson, William, school-master, 
cabin; Vandyke, John, cabin, barn; Vandyke, Huston, shoe-maker; 
Vartz, Dietrick, large cabin ; Vogen, Robert, small cabin, cooper ; 
Ward, Thomas, Robert Clarke's place, old cabin, weaver ; Ward, 
John, cabin, jobber; Ward, George, cabin, jobber; Walles, John, 



joS ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1796. 

weaver, cabin ; Watts, John, carpenter, cabin ; Welsh, Nicholas, 
stable and cabin ; Welsh, Ludwig ; Wheeland, Michael, carpenter_, 
cabin ; Whittemore, Peter, cabin, stable, and blacksmith shop ; 
Wilson, William, stone house, bank barn, and apple-mill, tailor; 
Woods, John, cabin and still-house, reed-maker ; Woodside, David, 
large cabin, stable, and blacksmith shop. 

Single Men — Adams, James ; Adams, John ; Chamberlin, Enoch, 
miller ; Clark, Charles ; Clark, George ; Foster, Hugh, weaver ; 
Fisher, William, miller ; Huffman, George ; Hawthorne, Archibald ; 
Iddings, Samuel ; Irwin, John, distiller ; Irwin, Samuel, weaver ; 
Johnston, William ; Lukey, William, joiner ; Lukey, James ; Mc- 
Cluskey, Patrick, distiller ; Nicholas, John ; Painter, Henry ; Pol- 
lock, James ; Pollock, Thomas ; Ray, William ; Russell, Alexander, 
distiller; Wheeland, Samuel. 

Fefin's — Brause, Adam ; Deal, John ; Deitz, Jacob ; Filman, 
John ; Gaughler, Nicholas ; Gehr, Jacob ; Hughes, Garret ; Jarret, 
Jacob ; Kern, Widow ; Kratzer, Daniel ; Leckington, Abraham ; 
Musselman, Jacob ; Price, Thomas ; Schuyler, Nicholas ; Weirick, 
John. 

List of Residents, dr'c., of Mahantango Township made in 1796 — 
Territory, Chapman, Perry, West Perry, now in Snyder County. 

Albright, Frederick, senior and junior ; Albright, John ; Ault, 
George ; Anderson, William ; Arnold, Casper, saw-mill ; Barnhart, 
Henry ; Bay, John ; Bickart, John ; Birchfield, Charles ; Blasser, 
John ; Bower, Daniel ; Bower, Peter ; Bowman, Jacob ; Bright, 
Michael ; Brumbach, George ; Burget or Burkhart, Philip, Esquire ; 
Eckhart, Jacob; Forrey, Christian; Garman, Henry, saw-mill; 
Garman, John and Peter ; Gaughler, George ; Geltnitz, Casper ; 
Getherd, Henry, cooper; Goy, Frederick; Graybill, Jacob; Gray- 
bill, Christian ; Graybill, John ; Gunckel, Jacob ; Haflig, Jacob ; 
Hagerman, John ; Hamilton, James ; Hawn, Michael, saw-mill ; 
Hawn, Michael, junior ; Heem, Paul ; Heffer, Jacob ; Heimback, 
Peter; Heintz, Doctor Christian; Heisler, Henry; Herrold, Simon, 
grist and saw-mill; Herrold, George; Hershey, John; Hershey, 
John, junior ; Hetzel, Mathias ; Hoff, James, tailor ; Hosterman, 
Peter; Imhoff, Charles, two stills; Johnston, John, saw-mill; Jordon, 



1796.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jog 



John ; Keiser, Jacob ; Kerstetter, John ; Kerstetter, George ; Ker- 
stetter, Leonard ; Kerstetter, Martin ; Kerstetter, John, junior ; Ker- 
stetter, Widow J Leiter, John; Livengood, Jacob; Livengood, John, 
Livengood, Jacob, saw-mill ; McClintock, Samuel ; Martin, Jacob ; 
Meiser, George ; Meiser, Adam ; Meiser, Henry, junior ; Meiser, 
Henry, senior, saw-mill; Meiser, Michael; Meiser, Philip; Metter- 
ling, Baltzer ; Nieman, Wiant, saw-mill ; Nitz, Jacob and Philip ; 
Patterson, Robert ; Pfeill, Henry ; Reber, John ; Reed, Frederick ; 
Reed, Casper ; Reichenbach, John ; Reichenbach, Jacob ; Reinerd, 
George ; Richter, Christian ; Richter, John ; Rine Henry, two 
stills ; Roush, Jacob ; Roush, Jacob, junior ; Saddler, Stephen ; 
Seecrist, Christian, saw-mill and distillery ; Shaffer, John ; Shaffer, 
Michael, saw-mill ; Shaffer, Peter ; Shedde, Henry, saw-mill ; 
Shetterly, John, saw-mill ; Shetterly, Henry ; Shetterly, Catherine ; 
Shetterly, Andrew ; Shower, Adam and Michael ; Shreiber, Philip ; 
Smith, David, oil-mill ; Snyder, Herman ; Snyder, John, senior ; 
Snyder, Thomas ; Snyder, Herman, senior ; Snyder, George, 
shoe-maker; Snyder, John, tanner; Speese, Herman; Stahl, Fred- 
erick; Stahl, John; Stees, Frederick, grist and saw-mill and shop- 
keeper; Stephenson, Earnest, weaver; Stephy, Adam and Leonard; 
Straub, Charles ; Straub, Charles, junior ; Straub, Peter ; Strausser, 
Nicholas, horse jockey ; Swartz, Martin ; Swartz, John and Peter ; 
Thornton, John; Thorsby, William; Troub, John; Vance, Robert; 
Whitmer, Widow; Whitmore, Jacob; Whitmore, Samuel, distillery; 
Wiant, Jacob ; Wiant, John , Witmer, Abraham ; Witmer, Peter, 
saw-mill ; Woodrow, Simon ; Woomer, Adam and Godfrey ; Zel- 
lers, John; Zimmerman, Stophel and William; Zually, John, weaver. 
Single Freemen — Goy, Frederick; Haak, Jacob; Meiser, George, 
joiner ; Nitz, Jacob ; Shaffer, Andrew ; Stephy, Frederick, carpen- 
ter ; Whitmore, Samuel ; Wiant, Michael ; Zimmerman, Jacob. 

Married. 

Sunday evening, June 12, Simon Snyder, Esquire, of Selinsgrove, 
to Catherine, daughter of Colonel Frederick Antes, of Northum- 
berland. 

D&aths. 

Henry Peters, East Buffalo. Children : Anna, Maria, Mary, and 
Barbara. 



jro ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY, [1797. 

Joseph Taveler, East Buffalo. 

Abraham Piatt, of Haines. Children : Jane, Eleanor, John, and 
James. 

March 14, George Riddle, son-in-law of General James Potter, 
deceased. 



1^9^- 




White Deer Election District — Books', Fisher's, and Barber's Mills 
Built — Greenville Laid Out. 

lEMBERS of Assembly, Simon Snyder and Samuel Ma- 
clay. County Commissioners, Henry Vanderslice, Na- 
than Stockman, and Charles Irwin. Justices of the 
Peace appointed : Thomas Shipton, January 6 ; John 
Hayes, February 2 ; James Parks, March 30 ; Thomas McCormick, 
Washington township, March 30; Frederick Evans, April 18; and 
Christian Espick, November 27. 

March 21, by act of Assembly, all that part of Washington that 
belongs to Northumberland county, and of White Deer to Little 
Spruce run ; thence down the same to Matthew Laird's ; and thence 
to the river, where Peter Swartz formerly lived, (now Mr. Miller's 
place;) thence down the river to the mouth of Buffalo creek, was 
included in the eighth election district, which held its election at 
WilHam Gallagher's in Milton ; and, by the apportionment of this 
year, Northumberland county became entitled to two members. 

Additional Taxables of White Deer — Adams, John ; Adams, Wil- 
liam ; Busser, Jacob ; Chamberlin, William, junior ; Kelly, John, 
junior ; Shrock, Aaron ; Spotts, Jacob. Henry Gray, Thomas 
Fredericks, and Michael Greenhoe, had saw-mills, and George 
Books erected the Books' saw-mill, in West Buffalo. He was a pow- 
erful man. In a fight at Rockey's mill, he caught two men, Bogen- 



1797.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 311 

reif and Iddings, and butted their heads together. Books removed 
to Ohio, and died there. 

Peter Fisher built the grist-mill, lately Samuel Weidensaul's, on 
Penn's creek, at the mouth of Laurel run. Fisher's successor at 
the mill was John Williams, his son-in-law. George, Henry, and 
John Weirick built Robert Barber's grist-mill, on White Spring run. 
William Weirick, who was the head of the firm of Weiricks, mill- 
Avrights, lost his life about this time, at a mill on the Juniata. He 
slept in the mill, arose in sleep, and fell through an opening to the 
bottom of the mill. 

Store-keepers in Lewisburg — James Black, who had William Hayes 
for his clerk, William McQuhae, and Henry Spyker. Christian Read 
built the barn of the latter. He charges him with sixteen gallons 
of whisky, used at the work from June 29 to September. 

April 3, George Derr sold Tobias Lehman his Lewisburg mill 
property and two hundred and eight acres of land. 

May 18, Frederick Evans laid out the property, late of George 
Rote, in lots, and called it Greenville. It adjoined Youngmanstown, 
and is now within the limits of Mifflinburg. 

At the election in October, Robert Irwin had eighteen hundred 
and forty-six votes ; Robert Brady, the next highest, ten hundred 
and fifty-three. The majority for Irwin was so large, he could not 
be safely set aside, and was accordingly commissioned, October 18. 

Married. 

February 9, Thomas Howard married to Elizabeth, daughter of 
Widow Mary Harris. 

Deaths. 

January 8, Mary, wife of Robert Chambers, aged sixty-one years. 

George Rote. Children : Peter, Jacob, George, Abraham, and 
John. Sons-in-law, John Kessler, Michael Shirtz, Adam Colpetzer, 
Joseph Ultz, Frederick Bartges, and James Ben. The latter married 
the daughter who was a prisoner with the Indians. They last re- 
sided on Spring creek, Centre county, where she died, and he 
married a Widow Murphy. 



h- 



179 




The Presbyterian Gtrave-yard at Lewisburg — Ferry Landing Dispute 
— Politics — Death of Captain John Lowdon. 

|AMUEL DALE and Samuel Maclay, Senators. Mem- 
bers of Assembly, Simon Snyder and Jacob Fulmer. 
Sheriff, Robert Irwin. Register and Recorder, Jere- 
miah Simpson, cominissioned July 24. Justice of the 
Peace, Simon Snyder, junior, March 13. John Lawson, May 3. 
Seventh division. Major General William Montgomery. Second 
brigade. Brigadier General William Wilson, commissioned March 
24. Brigade Inspector, Bernard Hubley, commissioned June 8. 

Buffalo : Supervisors, Peter Frederick and John Beatty. Col- 
lector, Hugh Beatty. 

West Buffalo : Supervisors, David Smith and John Reznor. On 
the 4th of April West Buffalo was erected into the fourth district, 
and the election directed to be held at the house of James Forster. 

January 10, James Sherer appointed the first postmaster at Lewis- 
burg. 

In February, Walter Clark, William Gray, and William Wilson, 
trustees of the Presbyterian grave-yard at Lewisburg, presented a 
petition to the Legislature, setting forth that many had buried their 
friends in lot No. 48, (next Weidensaul's hotel lot,) and there were 
no persons buried in No. 42, (C. D. Cox's hotel lot,) and asking 
authority to sell No. 42, (which, with 44 and 46, were, on the 26th 
of March, 1785, conveyed to them for the use and benefit of the 
Presbyterian congregation of Buffalo, for the purpose of a burying- 

3)2 



1798.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 313 

ground, by Ludwig Derr, the proprietor,) and to buy No. 48. An 
act passed accordingly. — 3 Smith's Laws, 304. 

Additional Taxables in Penn's township — John Binkomer, store- 
keeper; Joseph Barger, saw-mill; Adam Brause, saw, grist-mill, and 
distillery; John Busing, shoe-maker and fiddler; Frederick Dreone, 
surgeon and fiddler ; Michael Galer, saw-mill ; Adam Fisher, store- 
house and ferry; Henry Haus, saw-mill; George Kessler, tanner; 
Valentine Laudenslager, grist-mill and store; Francis Rhoades, 
tavern, ferry, and store-house ; John Swineford, tavern ; Neal St. 
Clair, taxed with a negro ; A. Swineford, two mulattoes. 

During this year James Black, owner of lot No. 341, on which 
Nesbit & Brother's store and house now stand, brought an eject- 
ment to maintain their landing privilege on the river opposite that 
lot. William Stedman and John Smith had a store in the stone 
building opposite, owned by Cowden & Hepburn, and the writ was 
served upon them as tenants. 

Francis Guise had bought No. 341 of George Derr, on the 5th of 
October, 1785, and on his deed- was recited the privilege of a land- 
ing on the bank of the river, opposite to and of the same breadth 
of No. 341. The claim was for the ground between the eastern 
boundary of said lot and low water-mark, on part of which the stone 
building was erected, but the landing was unobstructed. Black was 
defeated on the ground that an ejectment will not lie for a mere 
privilege or an incorporeal hereditament. — 2 Yeates, 331. Hugh 
Wilson bought No. 341 at the sheriff's sale of James Black's prop- 
erty, in 1800, and sold it 4th May, i8to, to Adam Grove, who 
sold it on the 8th of May, 1822, to the late Thomas Nesbit, de- 
ceased. 

During the summer, politics ran high ; the Republicans attacking 
the alien and sedition laws, and elevating to the rank of martyrs 
those who had been prosecuted under the sedition laws. At a meet- 
ing held in Lewisburg, for the purpose of addressing the President, 
John Adams, Reverend Hugh Morrison was one of the principal 
speakers, and in his public speech, indulged in abuse of Samuel 
Maclay and his family. 

Deaihs. 

Robert Clark, leaving a widow, Jane. Children : Eleanor Fruit, 



^ ■ . 

314 ANIMALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1798. 

-t^ • . 

Margaret Ayres, Robert, George, Charles, and John. His brother, 
Walter, and his son, John, executors. 

John Murphy, Lewisburg. Children : Benjamin, John, Henry, 
Mary, Nancy, and Sally. 

John Wales, New Berlin. Widow, Ann M. Children : James, 
John, Joseph, Jacob, and Sarah. 

Christian Miller, distiller, New Berlin. \ 

Captain John Lowdon died at his residence, near Mifflinburg, in 
February. His parents were Richard Lowdon and Patience Wright, 
(married by Friends' ceremony, June 5, 1728,) of Hempfield, (now 
Columbia, Pennsylvania.) He was born July 5, 1730; married 
March 27, 1760, by Thomas Barton, missionary, at Lancaster. 
As early as 1756, Mr. Shippen recommends him for a commission 
as ensign. He was an inn-keeper at Lancaster in June, 1770, and 
during this year took up a great deal of land in Buffalo Valley. The 
land on which Northumberland now stands was patented to his wife, 
Sarah, in 1770, and, in connection with William Patterson, he laid 
out that town. Reuben Haines made an addition to it, January 19, 
1781, of land sold him by Lowdon in 1775. In the spring of 1772, 
he moved into Buffalo Valley, residing at a place he called Silver 
Spring, afterward sold by his executors to Roush, now owned by 
Levi Shoemaker. His wife died previous to the year 1 775, as during 
this year he signed deeds alone, and it appears by a letter dated the 
18th of July, 1775, to Captain Lowdon, at that time in the field, 
that his five children were with his mother's family, at Hempfield. 
His prominence in political agitations prior to the Revolution, will 
be seen by the correspondence of that period, published under those 
years, and what he said in the cabinet he was not afraid to make 
good on the field of battle. As soon as the news of the battle of 
Bunker Hill reached the county, he enlisted a company of ninety- 
seven men and set off for Cambridge. After his return, on Novem- 
ber 7, 1776, he was elected a member of the Supreme Executive 
Council of Northumberland county, serving for one year. He owned 
an immense body of land during his life, embracing nearly the whole 
of West Buffalo township, besides large quantities now lying in Cen- 
tre and Northumberland. Philip Pontius told me he often visited 
at his father's. Lieutenant Henry Pontius, and he recollects his ap- 
pearance distinctly. He was a large, well-proportioned man, with 



1798.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 315 

a very pleasant expression of countenance. Doctor W. I. Wilson 
(of -Potter's Mills) told me, when a boy he often saw Captain Low- 
don at the Buffalo Cross-Roads church. He wore a cocked hat, 
blue coat, buff vest and breeches, silver knee and shoe buckles. He 
was married the second time. His will, dated November 10, 1797, 
named his wife, Ann, and two daughters, Susanna, married to Samuel 
Wright, (grandfather of Samuel Wright, of Columbia, Pennsylvania,) 
Catherine, unmarried, and three grandchildren, John Lowdon Stake, 
Charlotte and Catherine Stake. He left an annuity to his brother, 
Richard, who died unmarried. Captain Lowdon's children by his 
first wife were, Margaret, Susan, James, Patience, and Catherine. 
Margaret married J. Stake ; Susan, Samuel Wright, above named ; 
their child, the late John L. Wright. Margaret's children were 
Charlotte and Catherine. Charlotte married J. Quest ; Catherine, 
A. Chenowith. Lowdon Stake never married, and that name be- 
came extinct. Captain Lowdon's remains were conveyed down the 
river to Columbia, and buried there in the old burying-ground. 
Mrs. Wright, mother of William Wright, of Harlem, Stephenson 
county, Illinois, and daughter of the late Paschal Lewis, of Buffalo 
Valley, now in her eighty-first year, says her father and mother went 
part of the way, the day of the funeral, from Lowdon's house to the 
river, or possibly to Penn's creek; that after Captain Lowdon's 
death, his slaves were brought over from his farm and left, part of 
them at Robert Barber's and part at her father's, to stay until such 
time as Robert Barber was ready to start down with a raft or ark. 
He took them to Columbia in that way. They had been slaves pre- 
vious to 1780, and the young ones were still in their apprenticeship, 
and as his estate was bound to take care of the older ones, Samuel 
Wright, his son-in-law, set apart forty acres for their habitation 
and maintenance, on the east side of Columbia, back of the river. 
Among these were Chloe and Phillis. Chloe was a regular Congo. 
PhiUis died a few years ago, aged one hundred and five. This was 
the beginning of the famous Tow Hill, so well known to Maryland 
and Virginia slave hunters as the refuge of their slaves. [William 
Wright's letter, 1871.] John C. Watson said, the day of Captain 
Lowdon's funeral the creek rose very high, and they could not get 
over with the coffin, when " Mel," Colonel Clarke's slave, shouldered 
the coffin and went over the foot-log with it. 



'l'i^^"'-^ft^- 


x^'<^*^-P^^^^^^^^^tt^?i«-^ 


""^7^ 






11 



>T 



1799 




Hartleton — Sketch of Colonel Thomas Hartley — Lists of Taxables 
— Martin Dkeisbach — Thomas Wilson. 

NDREW GREGG, Member of Congress. Samuel Dale 
and Samuel Maclay, Senators. Jacob Fulmer and Si- 
mon Snyder, members of the House. Henry Spyker, 
commissioned Justice of the Peace for East Buffalo, 
March 9 ; John Cummings, Beaver, December 6. 

Hartleton was laid out by Colonel Thomas Hartley, who owned 
the site and a considerable body of land around it. His first deed 
for a lot is dated March 28, 1799. There is no plan of the place 
on record. Colonel Hartley was a distinguished lawyer, born near 
Reading, September 7, 1748, admitted at York, July 25, 1769. 
He was lieutenant colonel of sixth Pennsylvania battalion, Colo- 
nel William Irvine, and commanded the battalion after Colonel 
Irvine's capture at Three Rivers. The anonymous letters published 
in Force's Archives, describing this campaign, were written by Col- 
onel Hartley. This battalion served one year. There were two 
additional regiments to the Pennsylvania line raised in the State in 
1777, whose officers were to be appointed by General Washington. 
Colonel Hartley was appointed to one, and commanded, tempora- 
rily, a brigade at Brandywine. In 1778, his regiment was ordered 
into the West Branch valley. On the 13th of January, 1779, it 
was combined with the other additional regiment, Colonel John 
Patton's, under the name of eleventh, the old eleventh having been 
broken up; whereupon, February 13, Colonel Hartley retired from 
service, and Lieutenant Colonel Adam Hubley succeeded to the 

316 



1799.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 317 

command of the eleventh. In 1783 he was a memb'er of the Coun- 
cil of Censors; in 1787, of the State Convention. In 1788, he 
was elected to Congress, and continued a member until his death, 
December 21, 1800. He died at York, aged fifty-three, and is 
buried in St. John's church-yard there. He left two children, Charles 
William Hartley, some time prothonotary of York county, and 
Eleanor, married to Doctor James Hall, afterward physician to the 
lazaretto, at Philadelphia. 

Among Taxables in White Deer — Awl, John ; Bennage, George ; 
Baughner, William ; Bellman, George ; Bennage, John ; Bower, 
Moses ; Covert, Isaac ; Covert, John ; Gottshall, Michael ; Linn, 
Charles ; Nees, Henry ; Orr, John ; Oliphant, Andrew ; Rauthraff, 
Henry ; Sheetz, Jacob. 

Single men — Chamberlin, Tenbrooke ; Davis, Stephen ; Luther, 
John ; Stahl, George ; and Rank, Adam. 

In West Buffalo — Christopher Johnston is taxed with grist and 
saw-mill; Peter Rote, grist and saw-mill ; Burrows, Aaron; Betz, 
Adam, tavern-keeper ; McClelland, James, miller at Barber's White 
Springs. He was a great joker, and his fun was still current among 
the old people when I began these Annals. Saunders, Henry ; 
Shively, Christian, son of John ; Webb, George, hatter ; Wilt, 
Adam; Wilt, George. 

In East Buffalo — Auple, Conrad ; Baker, Wendell, two mills ; 
Barber, Joseph, blacksmith ; Beatty, Ann, widow ; Betzer, Conrad, 
cordwainer ; Betting, Joseph ; Boyles, William ; Breyvogel, Jacob ; 
Christie, James ; Collin, John ; Cook, John, cabin ; Cornelius, 
John; Coser, Andrew; Ewing, Joshua; Eyer, John; Frederick, 
George, inn-keeper ; Gross, Jacob ; Hudson, William, mason ; 
Kinney, Martin ; Lehman, Tobias, two mills ; McKinley, Hugh ; 
Ness, Jonathan ; Nevel, Nicholas ; Oldt, John ; Poeth, Joseph ; 
Sherer, William, weaver ; Shout, Adam, shoe-maker ; Strayhorn, 
Nathaniel ; St. Clair, John ; Taylor, James Graham ; Taylor, Wil- 
liam, tailor ; Truitt, Andrew ; Watkins, Joseph, weaver ; Wetzel, 
Jacob ; Whitmer, Peter, blacksmith ; Wigton, John ; Wilson, Hugh, 
(Ridge;) Wright, John; Wolfe, Michael; Young, Jacob; Zeih- 
rung, John. 

Philip Callahan was one of the principal school-teachers in the 



ji8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1799. 

Valley. He had a large account at Henry Spyker's store for whisky 
and tobacco. 

The difficulty between Reverend Hugh Morrison and Honorable 
Samuel Maclay terminated in a suit for slander. Morrison vs. 
Maclay, loi August term; Evan R. Evans for plaintiff, Messrs. 
Moore, Cooper, and Roberts for defendant. It was regularly con- 
tinued until 1 817, when the clients and most of the lawyers had 
appeared before another bar. 

George Frederick started the first hotel at Buffalo Cross-Roads. 

In 1799, Miflfiinburg was the largest town in the Valley. Its resi- 
dents were Ayers, James, shoe-maker ; Bartges, Michael, nailor ; 
Barton, Kimber, tavern-keeper ; Black, William, shoe-maker ; Car- 
mony, John, shoe -maker; Carothers, Moses; Clarlc, Daniel, tanner; 
Clark, Adam, jobber ; Collins, Michael, jobber ; Crotzer, John, 
carpenter ; Crotzer, Jacob, tailor ; Derr Christian, joiner ; Dreis- 
bach, John, gunsmith; Earnhart, John, blacksmith; Eilert, Chris- 
topher, farmer; Ely, John, clock-maker; Evans, Nathan, saddler; 
Forster, James, tavern-keeper; George, Simon, laborer; Getgen, 
Ludwig, mason; Gibbons, John, joiner; Hassenplug, Henry, 
brewer; Herring, Adam; Herrington, Nathan, cooper; Holmes, 
Robert, store-keeper; Holmes, Jonathan, jobber; Irvine, John, 
store-keeper ; Layman, Michael, joiner ; Eighty, John, tanner ; 
Longabaugh, Henry, laborer; Moss, Patrick, jobber; Neel, Henry, 
tailor ; Paget, George, school-teacher ; Patterson, John ; Patton, 
Andrew, wheelwright ; Peters, Philip, carter ; Rockey, Jacob ; 
Rote, Widow; Rudy, Nicholas, tailor; Russ, Charles; Russ, George, 
tailor; Sampsel, Nicholas, wheelwright; Shock, Michael, carpenter; 
Shock, Jacob, blacksmith ; Skiles, James ; Van Buskirk, Richard, 
tavern-keeper ; Wagner, Christopher, farmer ; Webb, John, hatter ; 
Welker, Jacob, tailor; Welker, William, jobber; Young, Peter, 
shoemaker ; Youngman, Elias ; Youngman, George, post-master ; 
Youngman, Thomas, store-keeper. 

Additional Taxables in Penn's — Adams, John, weaver; Ander- 
son, Jacob, inn-keeper; Auple, Peter, inn-keeper; Balliet, Nicholas, 
tanner ; Bard, Jacob, skin-dresser ; Berger, Bostian, weaver ; Berry, 
John, potter ; Beyer, Christian, carpenter ; Bleiler, David, mill- 
wright; Bloom, Henry, weaver; Bowersox, George A., mason; 
Bower, Philip, inn-keeper; Boyer, John, blacksmith; Bryan, George, 



1799.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



319 



tailor; Bucher, John, blacksmith; Bull, Nicholas, tailor; Bum, 
Peter, saw-mill; Clymer, Isaac, shoemaker; Cooper, Martin, cooper; 
Dauberman, John, carpenter; Deitz, Jacob, blacksmith; Engel, 
George, weaver; Epler, John, nailor; Esterhn, Frederick, carpenter; 
Etzweiler, George, potter ; Filman, John, weaver ; Fisher, Peter, 
weaver- Frey, David, shoe-maker; Fuehrer, Joseph, tobacconist; 
Gaughler, Nicholas, gunsmith; Gemberling, Jacob, nailor; Gem- 
berling, George, carpenter; Giltner, Christian, carpenter; Grove, 
Richard, saddler; Grub, John, carpenter; Hackenberg, John, car- 
penter; Hager, John, died; Haines, John and George, wheelwrights; 
Harland, Thomas, miller; Holtzapple, Henry, miller; Hummel, 
Jacob, distiller; Hummel, Frederick, shoe-maker; Kelly, John, 
carpenter; Kratzer, Benjamin, shoe-maker; Kreider, Isaac, carpen- 
ter; Kuhn, Jacob, weaver; Leist, Andrew, mason; Long, Peter, 
shoe-maker; Maurer, John, nailor; Merkel, George, turner; Meyer, 
John, son of Stephen, shoe-maker; Meyer, Jacob, son of Stephen, 
tailor; Miller, George, tailor; Neaman, Peter, fiddler; Nelson, 
John, tailor; Oberdorf, Henry, mason; Oswald, John, tailor; Row, 
John and Frederick, masons; Rupp, George, carpenter; Shearer, 
Andrew, blacksmith; Shock, Jacob, blacksmith; Snyder, John, 
tailor; Snyder, George, shoe-maker; Snyder, George, inn-keeper; 
Snyder, Simon, junior, inn-keeper; Spade, George, mason; Straw, 
Andrew, hatter ; Stump, Jacob, shoe-maker ; Wales, James, mill- 
wright; Weiser, Benjamin, tailor; Weikel, Christian, tailor; Werhn, 
Michael, ferry and saw-mill ; Westman, Jacob, carpenter ; Witten- 
moyer, Michael, clock-maker; Wolf, Philip, millwright; Yoder, 
Henry, carpenter ; Yoder, Jacob, potter. 

Beaver, additional Residents, &-c. — Aurand, Daniel; Barlet, Ja- 
cob ; Blompon, Conrad, mill ; Cummings, John ; Fry, Jacob and 
Abraham; Gilman, Henry; Grosscope, Samuel; Heil, Daniel; 
Howell, John, fulling-mill; Lehr, William; Manning, Richard; Mid- 
dlesworth, John ; Miller, John ; Peters, Jacob ; Reigeldorf, Adam ; 
Romig, Joseph, mills; Rote, Jacob and John; Smith, Adam; Steele, 
Adam ; Sterninger, Dewalt ; Wise, John, miller; Zerns, Jacob, paper 
mill. 

Single Men— Uoyn, Henry, in a store with Henry Aurand ; Kern, 
Adam; Kern, Peter; Mussina, Zacharias ; Weber, John. 

At the October election, Thomas McKean received, in Northum- 



320 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1799. 

berland county, 2,997 votes; James Ross, of Pittsburgh, 637 for 
Governor. Jacob Fulmer and Simon Snyder were the two highest 
candidates for Assembly, Fulmer havmg 3,569 ; Snyder, 3,047, 

' Deaths. 

On the 1 8th of February, Martin Dreisbach, senior, aged eighty- 
two. He emigrated from Germany in 1752, and came into Buffalo 
Valley in 1773, having purchased from Doctor William Plunket the 
tract still owned by the Dreisbachs. He left four sons, Henry, Jacob, 
John, and Martin, junior. Henry went to Ohio in the year 1804, 
and laid out the town of Circleville. Jacob died on John Dunkle's 
farm. John lived and died at Mififlinburg. George, Ellis, and John 
were his sons. Martin, junior, died at his place, near the church. 
Martin, senior, was of the German Reformed faith, and donated seven 
acres of his place for church and grave-yard purposes. " The Dreis- 
bach Church" will be his memorial in all future time. One of his 
daughters married Henry Aurand ; another, Peter Fisher. Honor- 
able Martin Dreisbach, (third,) and Honorable John Dreisbach, for- 
merly of the State Legislature, are of his grandchildren. 

Philip Stahl, of White Deer. (He was a brother of Jacob.) His 
children were John, Jacob, Philip, and Peter. 

Thomas Wilson. 

February 23, Thomas Wilson, of East Buffalo. He lived on the 
Meixell place, (fair ground.) His grandfather was the first to pass 
the Boyne, when William of Orange defeated the Irish Papists. For 
his services he drew two hundred and sixty acres of land. He resided 
within a mile of Coats' Hill, county town of Cavan, in the north of 
Ireland. He owned a large body of land there, having sixty tenants. 
His son Thomas had but one child, Hugh, to whom his estates de- 
scended. The latter disliked living among the Papists so much, that 
he sold his estates, and came to America, and finally settled in the 
forks of the Delaware. Hugh bought twelve hundred acres of land 
of the Aliens, but lost six hundred, a superior title intervening. His 
farm in Northampton was owned, in 1844, by a man named Levan, 
had mills upon it, and is very valuable. In 1737, he, with Colonel 



1799.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 321 

Martin, laid out the town of Easton, and, with Judge Craig, organ- 
ized and held the first court held in Northampton county, in 1752. 
He left a large family. 

I. William Wilson, a merchant, in Philadelphia. He went to the 
West Indies, and died there. 2. Ann, married to Reverend Mc- 
Reynolds, of Deep Run, Presbyterian preacher. 3. Elizabeth, mar- 
ried to Captain William Craig. 4. Charles, father of Judge Hugh 
Wilson, of the Ridge, some of whose grandchildren are still in 
the Valley : Robert, a merchant at Mifflinburg ; Charles, a grand- 
son, is baggage-master on the Pennsylvania road, at Altoona. 5. 
Samuel. 6. Margaret, married to McNair. 7. Francis, went bacl^: 
to the old country, and returned an Episcopal minister ; settled near 
Mount Vernon, taught in General Lee's family, and was intimate in 
General Washington's family. His family called him ' ' Aun Boyne," 
to remind him that he had made too great concessions in becoming 
anEpiscopahan. 8. Thomas Wilson, whose death we are recording. 
He was twelve or thirteen years of age, when his father, Hugh, moved 
his family to America, making their emigration about 1730. He 
spent a great deal of his means purchasing flour, and forwarding it 
to the revolutionary army. He was paid in Continental money, and 
his loss on its depreciation was about seven thousand dollars, which 
reduced his circumstances very materially. He sold out his place 
in Northampton, moved to the Susquehanna, and bought the place 
now owned (1877) by Joseph Meixell's heirs, about one half mile 
from Lewisburg, where he died. His grave is under the steps of 
the Presbyterian church. It was not disturbed by the building, but 
the tombstones of himself and his son Francis, were removed to the 
Wilson lot, iA the Lewisburg cemetery. His widow, whose name 
before marriage was Elizabeth Hayes, moved, in 1803, with her sons, 
William and Thomas, to Beaver county, where she died in 181 8. 
Their children were Hugh, father of Francis Wilson ; Sarah, mar- 
ried to Richard Fruit, moved to Mercer county, died in the spring 
of 1 844 ; Eliazbeth, married to James Duncaa, of Aaronsburg ; she 
died in 1797 \ Mary, married to Jonathan Coulter, sheriff of Beaver 
county; William Wilson, died in Beaver, 1841; James Wilson, at- 
torney-at-law, died in New Orleans, 1 800 ; Margaret Wilson, mar- 
ried John Thomas, storekeeper, at Hartley, moved to Beaver ; 
Thomas Wilson, of Beaver, who died 6th July, i860, aged eighty- 
21 



322 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1800. 



five years; Colonel Joseph H. Wilson, of the one hundred and first 
Pennsylvania, who died near White House, Virginia, July ii, 1862, 
was his son. He had been district attorney of Beaver county, and a 
member of the Legislature. Thomas Wilson left ten children, resid- 
ing in Beaver county. 



1800. 




Inhabitants of New Berlin and Lewisburg — Sketches of the NoRTnuM- 

BEELAND CoUNTY BaR DaNIEL SmITH, EvAN RiCE EvANS, ChARLES HaLL, 

&c. 

OVERNOR, Thomas McKean. Members, Simon Snyder, 

Jacob Fulmer. September 24, Daniel Levy, Esquire, 

commissioned Prothonotary, &c., vice Jasper Ewing, 

deceased. October 23, Henry Vanderslice commissioned 

Sheriff. Brigade Inspector, Frederick Lazarus. 

List of Inhabitants of New Berlin in 1 800. 

Beatty, William; Beatty, Hugh; Berger, Philip, potter; Clark, 
John; Cook, James; Gill, Isaac; Grove, George, saddkr ; Herman, 
Philip, carpenter; Myer, George, weaver; Myer, George, tailor; 
Overmyer, Philip; Parks, James, Esquire, store -keeper ; Rearick," 
William ; Rethrow, Jacob ; Seebold, Christopher ; Smith, Peter, 
sailor ; Spaight, Adam ; Trester, Martin, carpenter ; Wagoner, An- 
drew, inn-keeper. 

List of Inhabitants of Lewisburg in 1800. 

Albright, Andrew, inn-keeper; Beatty, John; Black, James; Bole, 
Samuel, weaver; Byers, Charles; Clark, George, store-keeper; 
Dreisbach Jacob; Endsworth, Andrew, saddler; Evans, Joseph, 



1800.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 323 



joiner; Fairchild, Caleb, blacksmith; Grove, Adam.; Kemmel, 
Lawrence, tinsmith; Knox, George, tanner; Lawshe, John, tavern; 
Leisenring, John, potter ; McLaughlin, Hugh, tailor ; Metzgar, 
Daniel, saddler ; Metzgar, George, hatter ; Metzgar, John, store- 
keeper ; Miller, Valentine; Park, Thomas, tanner; Pollock, John, 
store-keeper ; Pollock, William, tailor ; Reed, Christian, joiner ; 
Shaffer, Mathias, carpenter ; Shearer, Richard, store-keeper ; Spyker, 
Henry, store-keeper; Stedman, WilHam, inn-keeper, Strickland, 
Timothy, carpenter; Troxel, Abraham; Wilson, Hugh, store-keeper. 

List of Single Freejnen in East Buffalo, in 1800. 

Anderson, Samuel; Baker, Jacob, fuller; Betzer, Peter, weaver 
Bolender, George ; Bracken, James ; Callahan, Patrick ; Callahan 
Philip ; Dale, Samuel ; Deratt, Daniel ; Dreisbach, Martin ; Finess 
John ; Forster John ; Forster, William ; Frantz, John, cordwainer 
Frantz, Jacob, weaver ; Frederick, George ; Hafer, Lewis ; Hartley 
Thomas, carpenter ; Hays, Philip, junior ; Hayes, William ; Hayes 
Patrick ; Keeth, Andrew ; McClay, William ; McClosky, William 
McQuhae, William; Markle, John, blacksmith; Morton, John 
Nickle, John ; Pollock, Edward ; Price, John, store-keeper ; Reedy 
Conrad ; Russell, Alexander ; Slater, Peter ; Smith, Benjamin 
Spyker, Peter ; Stahl, John, wheelwright ; Thompson, James ; Ward 
Thomas ; Ward, William ; Wise, John ; Wise, Daniel ; Wolf, John 
Yentzer, Christian. 

Sketches of the Northumberland Bar, by Charles Miner. 

" Daniel Smith, Esquire, a tall, delicate looking gentleman, always 
elegantly dressed. He turns pale and actually trembles as he rises 
to speak. You are interested by such exceeding modesty, and half 
fear he will not be able to go on. His voice breaks sweetly on the 
ear, and words of persuasive wisdom begin to flow, and now pour 
along in a rapid torrent. Ah! that is eloquence." He graduated 
at Princeton in 1787. 

" Evan Rice Evans, a heavy, stout gentleman, with a large head 
and florid complexion. His delivery rapid ; his words crowd upon 
each other as sometimes to choke utterance. He talks good sense. 
Why should he not ? His head has more law in it than half a mod- 



324 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1800. 

ern library. He is a powerful advocate, with a good fee and an 
intricate case." He died in 1811. His daughter married Hugh 
Brady, Esquire, son of William P., of Indiana count/. 

"Charles Hall, Esquire. A very handsome man. His dress is 
rich, ruffles neatly plaited. Slow, distinct, and very pleasant in 
speaking. He prepares with care, and argues his cause with excel- 
lent skill." He came from Lancaster county. His wife was a Cole- 
man, owning a great estate, still called the Hall farms, above Muncy. 

" Honorable Thomas Cooper. Short round figure, stooping for- 
ward \ has a florid, high, English countenance and complexion. 
His forte is to seize two or three strong points, and present them 
forcibly to the court and jury. He never wearies by long speeches ; 
never uses a word, or an illustration, or an argument that is not to 
the purpose \ a man of extraordinary endowments and of most dis- 
tinguished genius." From John Binns' Autobiography I take some 
notices: When I came first to Northumberland, September i, 1802, 
there then resided Doctor Joseph Priestly, son, and family, and 
Thomas Cooper, Esquire, afterwards president judge in that district, 
and also president of the State College of South Carolina. He was 
fined and imprisoned for libel on President John Adams. The fine, 
with interest, was, on a petition of Doctor Cooper, refunded by a 
vote of Congress, many years afterwards, I think when General 
Jackson was President. The doctor wielded a powerful pen in favor 
of the general's election, and he was a man who rarely forgot to 
repay both partisans and opponents. Before Judge Cooper came 
to this country, he accompanied Mr. Watt, of steam engine memory, 
to Paris, and they took their seats in the French convention as rep- 
resentatives of the Manchester Philosophical Society. In 1820, 
Doctor Cooper resided in Philadelphia, as professor of chemistry 
in the University of Pennsylvania, and was a member of a club, 
with John Binns, which met every Monday evening at each other's 
houses. While here, he published his " Jurisprudence," and his 
edition of the "Institutes of Justinian." Binns says the first breach 
in their club was made by the removal of Doctor Cooper to South 
Carolina. His extensive knowledge, wit, and good humor were 
sufficient to instruct and enliven any society. His literary and 
scientific knowledge were of world-wide fame. His reply to 
"Burke's Invective" was inferior to no answer that was published. 



1800.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 325 

It took rank with those of Paine and Mackintosh. At the time he 
was printing that book, William Y. Birch was apprentice to the pub- 
lisher. He said, when Cooper stepped in to correct the proof, the 
printer would say, "We want more copy, sir," and Cooper would 
set down and write two or three sheets, and hand it to the printer 
without reading, much less correcting. He had a heart as warm 
and capacious as his mind was richly stored. He was my ardent 
and faithful friend for a period of nearly half a century. I have 
his 'portrait, taken when ninety years of age. He was a chemist of 
no common caliber ; admirable in compounding sauces and gravies, 
and enjoyed them very much. He was somewhat of a gourmand, 
yet he was never idle, and lived to the very advanced age of ninety- 
eight or ninety-nine, cheerful and polite to his last days. 

Miner mentions Daniel Levy, Thomas Duncan, and Charles Hus- 
ton, but makes no particular note of them. Daniel Levy was the 
survivor of these old-style lawyers, who always dressed in broad- 
cloth, wore queues, gold watch seals, and were eminently dignified 
and respectful. 

October 14. Bishop Newcomer again visits the Valley. " Crossed 
the West Branch at Northumberland with a great deal of trouble, 
and reached the house of Abraham Eyerly after dark. Next day 
he went to Brother Aurand's, where a great many people had col- 
lected and he and Brother David Snyder addressed them. On i6th, 
preached at John Rank's, in White Deer. 17th, at John Baer's. 
1 8th, sacrament at Martin Dreisbach's ; rode twenty miles through 
the rain to get there. Held class meeting, and had a happy time. 
Text on Sunday, 19th, "For the time is come when judgment must 
begin at the house of God." Preached at Mr. Dreisbach's in the 
evening ; next day, at Mr. Walter's, and at night at a poor man's 
house, on Middle creek." 

At the presidential election in 1800, parties were clearly defined 
under the names of Federalists and Democrats. 

Kimber Barton, who lived at Mifflinburg, was assessor of United 
States taxes. The tax on window glass was very unpopular. The 
assessor had to go to each house and count the panes. Before he 
arrived, some people went to the trouble of taking out their glass 
and putting in paper. John Bower, father of Thomas Bower, of 
Middleburg, was married to a sister of Kimber Barton. 



326 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1801. 

Deaths. 

Jasper Ewing, attorney-at-law, and late prothono'tary of the 
county, died. He was from Lancaster county. His library he left 
to his four nieces, daughters of General Edward Hand, of Lan- 
caster ; his fees to his nephews, John and Jesse Hand, together with 
his gun, fishing rod, and gold watch ; his cane to Charles Hall, Es- 
quire. 

He was adjutant of the first Pennsylvania, Colonel Hand, in 
July, 1776. In April, 1777, when Hand was promoted brigadier, 
and appointed to the command of the Western department, Ewing 
went -with him to Fort Pitt, as brigade major, and served as such 
during the years i 777-1778. 



1801. 




Rejoicing at Jefferson's Election — Condition of the Reformed Church 
IN THE Valley. 

EMBERS of Congress, Andrew Gregg and John A. 
Hanna. Senators, Samuel Maclay and James Harris. 
Act of February 27, reduced the number to one. Mem- 
bers, Jacob Fulmer, Jesse Moore, Samuel Dale, and 
Simon Snyder. July 18, William Montgomery appointed Associate, 
vice Thomas Strawbridge, resigned. County Commissioners, John 
Metzgar, John Frick, and Abrani McKinney. 

February 27, Apportionment bill allows Northumberland one 
Senator and four members. Taxables, four thousand seven hundred 
and forty-four. 

Additio7ial Residents of East Buffalo — Robinson, William, John 
Lawshe, keeping the " Pennsylvania Arms," at Lewisburg. 

Additions to White Deer Township — Clingan, William, Esquire ; 



1801.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 327 

Cornelius, James; Espy, John, shoe-maker; Hafer, Lewis; Iredell, 
Seth, miller at White Deer mills; Linn, David; Long, Joseph; Lutz, 
Jacob ; Lutz, Samuel ; McGinnes, John ; McGinnes, James ; Marr, 
David; Saryey, Christiaii; Shuck, Andrew; Stillwell, Joseph; 
Weikel, George. 

George Wilt, of Cumberland county, bought the Narrows property 
of Michael Shirtz. His sons, Adam and George, came up and built 
a new mill, and jointly kept the hotel, afterwards kept by Roushs, 
Stitzers, &c. Adam Wilt and John Fisher, who formerly lived on 
Esquire Lincoln's place, ran arks out of Penn's creek, from 1810 to 
1 81 8. Adam was the first man that ran Conewago falls with an ark, 
successfully. Products of the Valley then went down in the shape 
of whisky, linseed oil, &c. 

March 4, a meeting was held at Bethuel Vincent's, in Milton, to 
celebrate the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson. Colonel Kelly's 
toast was : " May this be the happy day to unite the hearts of all 
true Americans in their duty to God and our illustrious President. ' ' 
This year the road from Jenkins' mill to where it joins the Mifflin- 
burg and Lewisburg road, was laid out by Abraham Eyerly and 
Daniel Rees. 

Richard Sherer, postmaster at Lewisburg, advertises that the Phila- 
delphia mail arrived at Northumberland every Saturday at two, P. m., 
and returned on Sunday at six, a. m. 

The following sketch, taken from Doctor Harbaugh's Fathers, re- 
lates, of course, to the Reformed portion of Dreisbach church: 

The Buffalo church, now called Dreisbach, had, for some time, 
been in a very distracted condition, having the irregular attention 
of the irregular Pfruemer, called Frommer, but was, for the most 
part, closed entirely. The young men were growing up without 
adequate spiritual instruction, and the old members having passed 
through scenes of strife, had grown, to a great degree, indifferent. 
Seeing, however, at length, that religious matters were tending in a 
bad way, they awoke and saw that something must be done. Re- 
formed ministers being at that time few, and difficult to be secured, 
they thought they saw in Deitrich Aurand, who was still on his 
farm, a man who could be useful among them as a Reformed minis- 
ter. About the beginning of the year 1801 they came together, 
and unanimously and very cordially agreed to call upon him to 



328 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1801. 

preach a sermon in that church, which he consented to do. The 
appointment was made. The day arrived. The people assembled 
in great numbers. The pews, the galleries, the isles, the doors, the 
lower windows, and even the grove in front of the church were 
crowded with listeners, anxious to hear the new preacher. Some, 
no doubt, came from motives of curiosity, but the greater portion 
were there with a true desire to hear the Gospel. " Never," says an 
eye witness, "^'have I seen a multitude so eager to hear the words of 
life." The sermon ended, he came down from the pulpit, and 
standing in the altar, he was soon surrounded by the "ancient men " 
of the church, who earnestly desired him to make another appoint- 
ment. The congregation, having, in the meantime, stood still, he 
announced that he would preach again as desired, appointing the 
time. 

The second sermon was attended by a still greater multitude of 
people, some coming from a distance of ten and fifteen miles. The 
day was pleasant. The organ, long silent, had been repaired by the 
skillful hands of Mr. John Betz, the school-master, and was made to 
accompany the hymns by Stophel Aupel. The theme of the preacher 
was the astonishing love of Jesus Christ, in condescending to come 
into the world to save sinners. The absolute necessity of timely 
preparation to meet death was earnestly and pathetically urged upon 
all present. Towards the conclusion, different classes were separately 
addressed and exhorted. The young were asked how the hope for 
a blissful eternity stood with them ? and they were entreated to seek 
the Lord early, and remember their Creator in the days of their 
youth. Then the preacher turned to those in middle life, and in 
words of melting tenderness and burning zeal, were they warned 
against delay, and urged to flee from the wrath to come. Finally 
he turned to the aged, among whom sat his own venerable father, 
crying with the deepest feeling. Oh ! you who are hoary-headed, how 
stands the matter between you and your God ? You stand already 
with one foot in the grave, and in a few more days Avill sink into it, 
and have no more any portion forever in all that is done under the 
sun. You have, through a long life, enjoyed the mercies and favors 
of your kind Heavenly Father. Have you served Him with full sub- 
mission to His will, and loved Him supremely? and have you the 
assurance that you are reconciled to Him, through His dear Son 



1801.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 32g 

Jesus Christ ? If so, oh ! then it will be well with you. But, if this has 
not been done, oh ! then, I now entreat you, as you value the ever- 
lasting rest and peace of your souls, do not delay, but accept the 
offers of mercy in Christ, our dear Redeemer. " Such," says one 
who was present, "was the spirit and substance, and such, as near 
as I can recollect, even the closing words of this never-to-be-forgotten 
sermon. It made a deep impression upon me as a youth, and I re- 
member distinctly of having seen his own father, and such men as 
the Dreisbachs, the Dunkels, the Barnharts, the Betzs, the Good- 
mans, and others, bathed in tears. " 

He was unanimously elected pastor, and the congregation of New 
Berlin joined with them in the call, which he agreed to accept. He 
had been licensed by the "Brethren," but was not yet ordained or 
even licensed by the Synod. He began, however, to catechise in 
the Dreisbach church, and large numbers attended, whom he con- 
firmed, baptizing such as had not been. " Never since that day, " 
says an aged eye-witness, "have I witnessed such solemnity and 
strong feeling as on that day of the consecration of those youth, and 
the next day at communion." 

On the 3d of May the Synod met at York, and a request was 
made by the congregations of Buffalo Valley and New Berlin for the 
examination and ordination of Mr. Aurand. The matter, however, 
was deferred, principally at his own request, until he might improve 
himself. He, however, continued to preach to the congregations of 
Buffalo Valley and New Berlin, until his removal to Huntingdon 
county, in October, 1804, where he founded the congregation of 
Water street. He died near there, on the 24th of April, 1831, aged 
seventy years five months and sixteen days, and is buried in front 
of Zion's church, at Water street. 

November 1 1 , Reverend Hugh Morrison regularly dismissed from 
the Presbyterian congregation at Buffalo Cross-Roads. 

Marriages. 

September 27, by William Irwin, Esquire, Jacob D. Breyvogel, 
printer, of Sunbury, to Susanna Baldy, daughter of Colonel Chris- 
topher Baldy, of Buffalo. 

November 19, by Reverend Bryson, William Kirk, of Turbut, to 



330 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1801. 

Miss Jane Knox, of Lewisburg, and Daniel Dreisbach, merchant, to 
Katy Dreisbach, both of Lewisburg, "Whosoever findeth a good 
wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord." 

Deaihs. 

Sunday, September 20, Colonel Frederick Antes, of Northumber- 
land, died at Lancaster, buried in the German Reformed church- 
yard. John Thompson, of Buffalo, died. His children, James, 
Benjamin, Rachel Lincoln, Susanna Patterson, and Sarah Piper. 
John Reznor, West Buffalo, leaving a widow, Rebecca, and chil- 
dren, John, George, Agnes, &c. 

November 4, Mrs. Jean McClure, buried on the 5th, in the Pres- 
byterian yard, Lewisburg. She left fourteen children, one hundred 
and ten grandchildren, one hundred and forty-eight great-grand- 
children, and four great-great-grandchildren; total, two hundred 
and seventy-six. Thirty-six of them attended the funeral . She was 
of an amiable, benevolent, and friendly disposition, and might be 
called a true christian. — Kennedy'' s Gazette. 




i8o^. 




Residents in Freeburg, Middleburg, &c. — St. Peter's Church, in 
Kelly, and Ray's Church Built — Tabular Statement of Election 
Returns — Death of Joseph G-reen. 

ENATOR, SAMUEL MACLAY ; elected Speaker of the 
Senate, December 7. On the 14th of December he was 
elected United States Senator. Members, Jesse Moore, 
Jacob Fulmer, Daniel Montgomery, and Simon Snyder. 
County Treasurer, Christopher Dering. County Commissioner 
elect, Flavel Roan. Andrew Albright, Postmaster, Lewisburg. 

Hotels: Adam Wilt, Narrows ; Richard Van Buskirk, Youngmans- 
town ; C. Baldy, Cross-Roads ; Isaac Latshaw, Lewisburg ; John 
Metzgar, Andrew Albright, at the ferry. 

Residents in Straubstown, or Freeburg. 

Alspice, Doctor Henry ; Felmly, Jacob \ Hackenberg, Michael, 
joiner; Long, Peter; Moore, Andrew; Moore, Philip; Myer, Mi- 
chael ; Myer, Jacob, son of Stephen ; Myer, George ; Nagle, John ; 
Reigert, Paul; Roush, John, tan-yard; Rupert, John; Schock, 
Jacob ; Smith, John, weaver ; Straub, George, son of Peter ; Stump, 
Abraham ; Weaver, Michael. 

Swinefordstown — Aurand, John, joiner; Epler, John; Fry, 
David, shoe-maker ; Fry, Jacob, senior ; Kennel, Mark ; Lechner, 
Jacob, inn-keeper ; Leist, David ; Mertz, Isaac ; Mussina^ Zacha- 
rias; Nelson, John; Smith, Martin, cooper; Smith, Robert ; Spade, 

331 



332 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1802. 

George ; Spade, David ; Swineford, George ; Weller, John ; Wiant, 
Michael; Wittemyer, Michael, clock-maker. 

Selinsgrove a?id Weisertown — Clymer, Isaac ; Drum, Charles ; 
Dusing, John ; Etzweiler, George ; Fisher, Peter ; Four, Joseph, 
weaver; Gaughler, Nicholas; Gemberling, Charles; Gettig, Fred- 
erick; Good; Adam; Hegins, Charles, tavern; Hughes, Widow ; 
Kemerer, Christian ; Krider, Isaac ; Laudenslager, Valentine, tavern; 
Meyer, Widow ; Mewhorter, Henry, tanner ; Myer, Jacob ; New- 
mauer, Michael ; Oberdorf, Henry ; Price, Thomas ; Rhoads, Fran- 
cis; Rhoads, Henry; Rhoads, Daniel; Reim, Nicholas; Robins, 
Alexander, tailor ; Roop, George ; Silverwood, James ; Snyder, 
Simon ; Tryon, Frederick ; Ulrick, George. 

Mahantango Township — Bergstresser, John, millwright ; Christ, 
Valentine ; Derstein, Michael ; Gordon, Willis ; Hagerty, Robert ; 
Heimback, George and Jacob ; Holtzapple, Widow ; Light, Adam ; 
Richter, Widow ; Richter, John ; Stees, Frederick, adds fulling- 
mill and smith shop ; Walter, Conrad. 

Additional Residents in East Buffalo — Barbin, Joseph ; Bellman, 
Henry; Benner, John; Bickle, Leonard; Billmyer, Jacob ; Bill- 
myer, George; Brouse, Peter; Cummings, James; Coser, Andrew; 
Dale, James ; Dale, Samuel, junior ; Dreisbach, John, gunsmith ; 
Dreisbach, John, carpenter ; Elder, Robert, on John Kelly's place ; 
Freeman, Widow, on John Wiggin's place ; Hull, Thomas, on 
Conrad Reedy's place ; Irwin, Andrew ; Jodon, James, on Andrew 
Struble's place ; Maclay, William P. ; Maclay, Charles ; Markley, 
John, junior ; Messinger, John ; Reedy, Andrew ; Shoemaker, Jacob ; 
Slough, Christian ; Tietsworth, Jacob, on Simington's place ; Wolfe, 
George Wendell ; Winegarden, Peter ; Young, Abraham. 

Lewisburg — Brice, John ; Donachy, John, weaver ; Franklin, 
Daniel; Hartley, Thomas, carpenter; McKinty, Barney; Russell, 
David, mason. 

' Neiv Berlin — Himmelreich, Peter ; Mussina, Zacharias ; Rem- 
inger, Peter, shoe-maker ; Speddy, Jeremiah, shoe-maker. 

White Deer — Armstrong, John, on Margaret Blythe's place ; 
Bayard, Benjamin ; Blackeney, John ; Bowers, John ; Bowers, Bar- 
bara, widow ; Criswell, Joseph ; Espy, John, shoe-maker ; Lawshe, 
John, still-house, on George Derr's place; Marr, David, on Riddle's 
place ; Servey, Christian ; Weikel, George. 



1802.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 333 

Improvements — John Hoffman, saw-mill ; Seth Iredell, three- 
story stone grist-mill, Anthony Morris having recovered the pro- 
perty of the Widow Smith. The mill had two pair of overshot 
wheels. A new saw-mill was added, stone dwelling-house and barn 
were on the premises, and an excellent shad fishery. 

West Buffalo — Baxter, Robert: Blunbaum, Conrad; Boop, John: 
Boop, Davidson, George ; William ; Deal, Henry ; Deering, Christo- 
pher ; Englehart, George ; Gill, Isaac, on Robert Barber's place ; 
Gutelius, Frederick, cooper ; Heise, Solomon ; Imhoof, John 3 
Leberick, George, tanner; Shultz, Daniel; Smith, Melchior, saw 
and hemp-mill on Laurel run ; Spigelmoyer, John. The stone house 
on Mather's place, in Limestone township, built. 

Si. Peier's Church. 

The church known as St. Peter's Lutheran church, in Kelly, was 
built upon land donated by Philip Stahl. Jacob Lotz, his executor, 
by deed, dated August 13, 1802, recorded at Sunbury, in deed book 
L, pages 712-713, conveys to Christian Zerbe and George Reininger 
seven acres and ninety-one perches, in Kelly to\\Tiship, in trust to 
and for the use of building or erecting a school-house and a German 
Lutheran church on the same, and for a burying-ground, by the fol- 
lowing bounds and measures : beginning at a line of Henry Neese ; 
thence S. ^Z^ W. 78, to a post; thence S. 2° E. 22, to a post; 
thence N. 80° W. 80 perches, to a post; thence N. 2° W. 11, to 
beginning. 

Ray's Church. 

Ray's church, in Lewis, was founded by a gift of one acre of land 
by Mr. Ray. The first church was never finished. The timbers 
furnished seats in the gallery up to the time of the building of the 
new church. 

September 24, Bishop Newcomer again visits the Valley, preached 
in Youngmanstown and at Aurand's. 25th, quarterly meeting com- 
menced at Martin Dreisbach's. Brother Kempt preached the first 
discourse, and Brother Farley, a Methodist, spoke in English. 

Republican standing committee, General William Montgomery, 



334 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1802. 



Henry Vanderslice, Simon Snyder, Robert Giffen, and Christopher 
Baldy. April 2, Northumberland, Lycoming, and Centre made a 
congressional district. September 16, meeting of delegates at John 
Metzgar's, in Lewisburg, John Barber, chairman. Nominated An- 
drew Gregg for Congress. 

Saturday, i8th. The following delegates met in convention at 
Lewisburg, at Metzgar's hotel : Augusta, Charles Maus ; Shamokin, 
Jesse Simpson \ Point, Robert Irwin ; Chillisquaque^ James Straw- 
bridge ; Mahoning, Mathew Collum ; Penn's, Charles Drum; Derry, 
George Langs; Turbut, Bethuel Vincent; West Buffalo, John Dreis- 
bach ; East Buffalo, Andrew Albright ; White Deer, Andrew McLan- 
achan. Thomas McKean nominated for Governor ; Samuel Maclay, 
for Senator; Jesse Moore, Jacob Fulmer, John Bull, and Daniel 
Montgomery, junior, for Assembly; Solomon Markley and John 
Wilson for Coumiissioners. 



ELECTION BETUIiNS, 1802. 





GtOV'NB. 


1 
CON 

1 


SEN 

03 


ASSEMBLY. 


DISTRICTS. 


a 


00 






6 




3 


s 



'CD 


a 


ft 






02 
OS 


pel 


^ 


<D 


^ 


P=H 


a 


c 



% 


W 







03 

a 


n 









^ 


s 






'^ 


c3 


•^ 


cS 


Ol 


a 


• 


•M 


03 







H 


1-5 


189 


GO 

194 


200 


1-5 
199 


w 
ISO 


m 
133 


rji 


i-s 


Sunbury, 


180 


26| 


12 87 


Northumberland, . . . 


133 


35 


152 


153 


I'lO 


138 


65 


32 


36 112 


Buflfalo, 


201 


14 


211 


209 


205 


156 


97 


143 


191i 5 


West Buffalo, .... 


19'! 


17 


210 


210 


206 


203 


11 


74 


79; 9 


Berlin, 


136, 1 


136 


139, 


137 


137 


1 


136 


138' 1 


Swineford, 


119.... 


121 


129, 


112 


121 


1 


111 


118 




Bloom and Brier, . . . 


95! 20 


114 


112' 


112 


20 


108 


102 




111 


Milton 


347 


21 


356 


352' 


366 


323 


356 


53 


36 


175 


Selinsgrove, 


231 


9 


232 


234' 


234 


227 


59 


217 


152 


41 


Mahanoy, 


139 


2 


140 


140' 


134 


140 


74 


45 


101 


52 


Washington, 


340 


8 


337 


342 


341 


335 


843 


1.64 


20 


159 


Catawissa, 


66 63 


100 


111 


118 


125 


125 


4 




121 


MifElinburg, 


63'.... 


65 


65 


65 


65 


65 


3 




62 


Beaver, 


130'..., 


130 


130 


130 


130 




130 


129 




Shamokin, 


173 P 


150 


159 


172 


127 


179 


134 




72 


Fishing Creek and Green- 




















wood, 


96 4 


99 


96 


106 


101 


106 


55 


42 




Total, 


2674 221 


2746 


2766 


2778 


2556 


1749 


1536 '1054 

1 


1007 



1802.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 335 

For this schedule, and other poHtical statistics, I am indebted to 
the papers of Flavel Roan, carefully preserved by the late Flavel 
Clingan, of Kelly, his nephew. Flavel Roan was general scribe for 
the Valley, clerked at the election meetings of return judges, wrote 
the obituary and marriage notices, &c. 

On settlement, Frederick Antes, late treasurer, allowed a credit of 
^15 2fi, paid for hanging Edward Jones. 

December 22, Samuel Maclay presides at the trial of Judge Alex- 
ander Addison. 

23d-24th, a fire in the night occurred at Nesbit's, on the east side 
of the river. It was noticed by Andrew Albright. The night was 
fearfully cold, and, observing no one stirring at the house, he 
mounted his horse and swam him, through the floating ice, across the 
river, awakened the family, and thus saved them from destruction. 
Barnaby McMaster, the weaver, lost his loom and all he had, barely 
escaping with his life and family. 

In November, Reverends Messrs. Graham and Moody preached 
as supplied at Buffalo Cross-Roads church. 

At November sessions, a road was laid out from Milton, by way 
of the ferry at Orr's or John Boal's, (Miller's place now;) thence 
through Boal's and Heckle's land, crossing Little Buffalo at William 
CUngan's, Buffalo creek, near Chamberlin's mill; thence to the 
Derrstown and Mififiinburg road. 

Deaths. 

George Frederick. His daughter, Catherine, was Tobias Sheck- 
ler's wife. 

George Ray, of West Buffalo. Children: the late John Ray, 
first sheriff of Union county, George, William, Barbara, Margaret, 
Sarah, Nancy, and Catherine. 

Phoebe Jenkins, widow of James, the elder. 

William Jordon, White Deer. Left widow, Jane, and twelve chil- 
dren : Thomas, Mary, married to James Hill, Margaret, Daniel, 
Andrew, William, Samuel, James, John, Elizabeth, George, Jane. 

Edward Tate, of West Buffalo. Children : Edward and Thomas. 
Hugh Beatty took the land at the appraisement. 

Joseph Green died in the spring of this year. He was a promi- 



33(} ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1802. 

nent citizen of the Valley, and one of its first settlers. He resided 
first where Benjamin Thompson, junior, lives, east of Miffiinburg, 
then built the mill of late known as Bellas', which was sold from 
him. He then removed some distance up Penn's creek, and built a 
saw-mill, where he died. He was buried in the Lewis grave-yard. 
His first wife's name was Margaret, and his second, Mary. He was 
a surveyor, and dealt largely in lands. Was prominent in the rev- 
olutionary struggle. His first wife died in 1783, and in 17S4 he 
married a widow, Mary Irvin. His children were : Elizabeth, mar- 
ried to Henry Shively ; her daughters, Margaret, married Jesse Mat- 
thews ; Elizabeth, Ephraim McMullan ; Sarah, Eli Landis ; and one 
was married to Robert Barber. Alice Green married James McCoy. 
Joseph Green's sons were : John, Timothy, Joseph, William, Tho- 
mas, George, and General Abbot. The sons all went West, except 
General Abbot. John went to Louisiana, and one of his sons was 
in Congress from that State, some years ago. Joseph Green's widow 
had a son, James Irvin. 




1803. 




Jenkins' Mill Road — Additional Residents— Flavel Roan's Journal, 

j' AMUEL M ACLAY, Speaker of the Senate. Simon Sny- 
der, of the House. March i6, Honorable Samuel Maclay 
resigned the office of Speaker of the Senate. County 
Commissioners, Flavel Roan, David Taggert, and Solo- 
mon Markley. John Frick, Clerk. Sheriff, Andrew Albright, com- 
missioned October 24. Thomas Youngman, Postmaster, Miffiinburg. 
January S. Andrew McClenachan, justice for White Deer and 
Washington. . 

Road from Jenkins' mill to Michael Snoith's, (first house east of 
Farley's now,) in East Buffalo, laid out. 

Additional Residents of White Deer — Anderson, Samuel, (miller j) 
Baker, Michael; Candor, Josiah; Hayes, John, justice; Mole, 
Christopher ; Musser, Joseph, from Strasburg, Lancaster county, in 
place of Walter Clark, who moved to the western part of the State ; 
Spotts, Peter ; Steens, Ephraim ; Wallace, William. 

West Buffalo — Bliler, Michael; Brown, Christian; Clark, Aaron; 
Gable, Jacob; Getgen, Adam; Larrabee, Doctor John; Roush, 
George ; Rudy, Abraham ; Withington, Peter, junior. 

Additional Residents^ East Buffalo — Cooper, Daniel; Epler, 
John, (miller;) Grier, David, on Reverend H. Morrison's land; 
Hinely, John ; Housel, Joshua ; Kaufman, John ; Kessler, George ; 
Musser, Jacob, on Thomas Wilson's farm ; Nyhart, David ; Reber 
John ; Ritter, Philip ; Simington, Thomas ; Slear, Charles ; Stearns, 
John. 

22 337 



338 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1803. 

Lewisburg — Ely, John ; Gucker, George ; Moore, John, black- 
smith. 

New Berlin — Hackenberg, Peter ; Haughawaut, Leffard ; Lucas, 
Robert; Solomon, John ; Spyker, Daniel. 

Candidates for Assembly — Simon Snyder, Robert Giffen, Leonard 
Rupert, Jacob Fulmer, John Bull, M. Withington, James Forster, 
Jacob Haller, Joseph Hutchinson, William Stedman, James Laird, 
Richard Sherer. Simon Snyder, (who received 3,187 votes, nearly 
every vote polled,) Robert Giffen, Leonard Rupert, and Colonel 
John Bull were elected. 

fiavel Roan's Journal. 

In order to have a picture of the social enjoyments and domestic 
events, I will quote from Fiavel Roan's diary, still extant, at Mr. 
Fiavel Clingan's. It is complete for the year 1803, commences 
again with 1807, and extends to the close of 181 3. It is as beautiful 
as copper-plate engraving, and the letters are so small it requires a 
magnifying glass to read. He made accurate observations of the 
weather three times a day. It is said he wrote with a crow-quill. 

Monday, 3d. I taught school in Derrstown. Eighteen scholars. 
Went in the evening with William Hayes and William Wallace to 
Mrs. Wilhams', where we had a social hop. 4th. Spent the evening 
at Andrew Albright's, where upwards of sixty children held a ball. 
About forty spectators. Some of the parents well pleased with the 
acting of their children. 6th. Spent the evening at widow Mary Har- 
ris' with the Wilson and Hayes families, and had a social hop. 7th. 
Posting books for John Dreisbach's lottery, nth. Attended a social 
hop at Hugh McLaughlin's. William Hayes, Miss Mussers, and Mr. 
Black there. January 13. Ball at Colonel Baldy's, Cross-Roads. 
26th. Spent evening at Musser's. Fifteen persons present. 

February i. John Foster came down from Penn's valley, and 
wanted a ball gotten up at the stone house ; spoke to Edward Morton 
to be manager. 3d. The ball came off; over one hundred persons 
attended. 6th, Sunday. Mr. Graham preached : text, Lukexviii: i. 

N. B. I make it an established rule to put up at Baldy's. 8th. Met 

Mr. Graham, Billy Maclay, and others at Hugh Wilson's. 14th. 
Spent the evening socially, at Mrs. Harris', with twenty others. 



1803.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jj>9 

1 8th. Shearer, McClure, and Fruit returned with their wagons from 
Piiiladelphia ; away above three weeks. 21st. Mrs. Stedman died. 
Sun edipsed. Harris and Wilson's families had a social hop at 
Hugh Wilson's. 25th. Ball at Colonel Baldy's. 28th. Frolic at 
Billy Poak's to-night. 

Tuesday, i. March comes in Hke a lion. Thinking about Billy 
Poak's. 3d. Breakfasted at George Clark's, with McCord, Dale, 
James Dunlap, and Mrs. Young. Taggart called with a petition to 
sell the old jail. 6th. Mrs. McLanachan buried. 8th. At L's in the 
evening ; about twenty playing cards there. 9th. With Squire Kelly, 
Hayes, Gray, Clarke, and Colonel Baldy, at Billy Poak's. loth. 
Quit school-keeping, and moved my things to Caleb Fairchild's. 
nth. William Brady's barn burned; seven horses and two cows 
burned. Spent the evening with Foster's girls, at Dunlap's. James 
Thompson came there in the evening. 13th. Richard Sherer's wife 
had another daughter. Mr. Jackson preached at Buffalo Cross- 
Roads. 15 th. John W. Clark very sick. I went down for the doc- 
tor ; not at home ; he and Mr. Jackson at Stedman's. Stayed until 
all was blue ; good company. 

Deaths. 

James Jenkins, of East Buffalo, aged forty, buried at Northumber- 
land, father of Miss Harriet, still living at Northumberland. He left 
a widow, Sarah. Children : Thomas S., Mary, Sarah, Harriet, and 
Ehzabeth. 



i8o4. 




Contemporary Notices of the People of the Valley — Henry Spyker's 
Form of Writing Their Wills — Doctor Joseph Priestly — Colonel 
William Cooke. 

JACOB FULMER, Senator; Speaker of the House, Simon 
Snyder. Sheriff, Andrew Albright. County Commis- 
sioner, George Bright. 

East Buffalo, Additional Residents — Brown, John j 
Bucher, John, ferry ; Dimpsey, James ; Frederick, Jacob ; Gibbons, 
WilUam ; Hill, Daniel ; Kremer, Frederick ; Lloyd, John ; Pan- 
coast, William ; Reichly, Conrad ; Renner, Frederick ; Shock, 
Peter ; Swinehart, Henry ; Wormly, George. Single men : Lin- 
coln, John ; Machamer, Daniel ; Morton, Edward. 

White Deer — Gillespie, Edward ; High, Jacob ; Laird, William ; 
Robb, Eleanor ; Robb, James, blacksmith \ Smith, Boyd. 

West Buffalo — Gable, Jacob ; Glasgow, William ; Glover, John, 
taxed with a slave ; Jones, Ezekiel ; Miller, John; Mingle, Andrew ; 
Reeser, William ; Roush, Jacob ; Roush, George ; Royer, John, 
smith ; Spiegelmyer, John, junior ; Thomas, William. The David 
Smith mill passed into the hands of Robert Barber, Esquire. Thomas 
Frederick, who had been of the rangers, in the Revolution, and 
whose name appears on the tax-hst in 1782, settled originally on the 
Thomas Paschall tract, (on Laurel run, lately owned by George Fees,) 
where he built a saw-mill, and made considerable money farming 
and rafting down Penn's creek. He sold out to Ezekiel Jones, and 
moved to Ohio this year, where he founded the town of Fredericks- 
burg, Wayne county, Ohio, and built the first mill there. 

340 



1804.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. j^/ 



Michael Brown's Recollections, &c. 

John Brown, father of Abraham, Michael, &c., came to the Valley 
this spring from Pine Grove township, Berks county. He bought the 
Andrew Edge warrantee, (late Michael and Christian Brown, Getz, 
&c.,) of Henry Spyker, for £S per acre. There was then an old log 
cabin on it, in which Peter Spyker, son of Henry, lived. Michael 
Brown, late county commissioner, who was then seven years old, 
stated that he had eight children when he came, John, who went 
to Ohio; Elizabeth, married to Simon Christ, moved to Ohio; 
Christena, married to PhiHp Frederick; Peter, who went to Ohio ; 
Abraham, lately deceased ; William, Christian, Michael, and Jacob. 
Their mother died in 1806, the father, 1838, and both are buried 
in the Dreisbach grave-yard. He was born in Pennsylvania, 
served in the Revolution, was in the battle of Brandywine. His 
father came from Germany. Our neighbors were Lorentz Barn- 
hart, who lived where Peter Getz lives ; Kreighbaum, at David 
Schrack's ; Christopher Weiser had a fulling-mill where Peter Wolfe 
now lives ; Henry Poeth, father of old Henry, late of Lewisburg, 
was the sole inhabitant of Smoketown, which was a part of Spyker's 
land. He made there all the brick that were used in Lewisburg. 
Edward Morton lived where A. Frederick's barn now is ; Bailey on 
R. Laird's place ; John Zellers, where Samuel lately lived ; John 
Aurand, on the Aurand place, now owned by John Zellers ; Chris- 
tian Gundy lived where John W. Brown now lives. From our 
place to Derrstown only ten acres were cleared where George Wolfe 
now lives. The road commenced at Spyker's, (now James S. 
Marsh's,) at the river, passed through part of the cemetery, the lane 
at Chamberlin's, came out at George Wolfe's, passed through Smoke- 
town, skirted the ridge at Elli^ Brown's and along by Morton's, 
(Schrack's now,) crossed the present pike above Beale's tavern; 
that, with the road to the cross-roads and the one up along the river, 
were the only three roads I recollect of. Jacob Musser lived on 
Meixell's place. The streets in Lewisburg were laid out, but the 
lots not fenced in. Black had a ferry near the dam. Valentine 
Miller was the undertaker of that day. John Beeber, lately living at 
Lewisburg, told me he came with his father this year to get a wagon 
at Jacob Stahl's, near the Union church. He was the wagon-maker 



342 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1804. 

of the day. People came from Muncy and all around the country 
to get wagons made by him. He said, also, the locusts were so 
plenty, that while riding along with his father above Milton, they 
made so much noise he could not hear what his father said. At 
Miller's place they crossed the ferry ; were polled over by two of 
George Hoffman's daughters. Ernhart, at Mifflinburg, ironed their 
wagon. John Stahl had one son, Enos, and a daughter, Salome, 
married David Herbst. Charles Hall, Esquire, built the stone house 
and barn now owned by Martin Rishel's heirs. Daniel Shappell 
moved into the house as tenant. 

June 2 2, fast day. Mr. Bryson lectured in the morning. Mr. 
Dunham preached in the evening. 

On 26th of July, Mr. Hood arrived. He introduced Watts' ver- 
sion of the Psalms. Members were offended on that account, and 
whether he would accept the call or not was doubtful. Reverend 
Mr. Morrison died September 13, and in December Mr. Hood 
again visited the congregation, and it was understood that he would 
accept the call. 

In December there was great rejoicing over the election of Presi- 
dent Jefferson. Maclay's boys went to Derrstown, where they had 
large bonfires, fired cannon, and burned up their hats. Old Judge 
Wilson and Nathan Stockdon took the back road home by Baldy's, 
at the cross-roads. Their dearborn was loaded with china and 
crockery. Getting a little too much cider oil on, they upset at the 
little bridge, a few rods east of the hotel. The broken china and 
crockery laid there for years after. 

Abel Owen lived near Rengler's. He was a lame man, but could 
Avhip any man in the Valley, so it was said. 

John Betz kept school at the Dreisbach church school-house. He 
and wife were celebrated as a very handsome couple. 

Marriages. 

March 27, by Reverend John Patterson, William Thompson to 
Susan, daughter of John Linn. 

Deaths. 
Knowing something by tradition of the prominent characters of these 



1804,] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 343 

times, the highly pious strains in tlieir dying testimonies somewhat 
startled me. On examination, however, I fomid they were all writ- 
ten by Henry Spyker, Esquire, and from the mouths of all, saints 
and sinners, flowed his churchly rhetoric: " I commend my soul 
into the hands of God, hoping, through the merits of my Saviour's 
sacrifice, for the remission of my sins and a happy admission into 
heaven." 

February 6, Doctor Joseph Priestly, aged seventy-one. Epitaph : 
'' Return unto thy rest, oh my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bounti- 
fully with thee. I will lay me down in peace, and sleep until I 
awake in the morning of the resurrection." His remains were re- 
moved to the' new cemetery, near Northumberland, a {t\Y years 
since. Binns, in his Autobiography, says Doctor Priestly published 
nearly one hundred moderate sized octavo volumes, on a great 
variety of subjects. He had an extensive library and chemical labo- 
ratory. He rose early, retired at ten, p. m. He slept on a cot in his 
library. (His wife died September 11, 1796, aged fifty-five.) He 
played chess and back-gammon, a few games nearly every day. Some 
time before his death, when he was very ill, I occasionally sat with 
him during the night, in a large arm chair by his cot. He was then 
writing and I was publishing his " History of the Christian Church," 
in six volumes. The fourth or fifth volume was printed. "I 
should," said he, "have been gratified if it had pleased God to spare 
me to finish my History of the Church. I should have nothing 
more on earth to do or regret at leaving undone." He recovered 
so far as to finish and correct the proof of his history. Some months 
after, when very feeble, at the dead hour of the night, he asked me 
if I had recollected what he said about the history. I said I did. 
He said I wished to remind you of it, and to say that I have now 
nothing unfinished — nothing that I feel uneasy about, and I am 
ready to depart when I am called hence. Some hours after, sur- 
rounded by his family, he departed. On his death bed he expressed 
himself to me, in substance, as follows: "Reflecting on the Divine 
love of the Creator, and the felicities of a future state, I have thought 
that when the immortal portion of the human frame should be called 
hence, that it would be conveyed to a region of blissful enjoyment, 
proportioned to its capacity and preparation, there to remain until, 
from its superior opportunities and acquirements, it should become 



344 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1804. 

better prepared and more capable of yet subliiTier and more spiritual 
enjoyments; whence, through Divine mercy and love, it would* 
from time to time, be removed from one region of bliss to a higher, 
and yet a higher, until it should attain the most sublime and perfect 
state of felicity, of which our most improved nature should be made 
susceptible ; enjoyments becoming more and more blissful without 
end." It will be noticed that Binns wrote his Autobiography in 
1854, and asks for reasonable allowance for the errors of an octo- 
genarian. He continues : " Doctor Priestly told me he had written 
four volumes of commentaries on the laws of England, which were 
burned by the " church-and-king " mob in Birmingham, 1791 and 
1792." 

February, Daniel Rees of Buffalo. 

April 16. Died on Monday last, (April 16,) at his country seat, 
adjoining Harrisburg, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, William 
Maclay, Esquire, a member of the Legislature of this State. 

April — . Colonel William Cooke, twelfth Pennsylvania. His 
children were John, (father of Jacob Cooke, of Muncy, Robert, of 
Howard, Centre coimty;) Rebecca Stedman; Jane, married to Wil- 
liam P. Brady, son of Captain John ; Mary, married to Robert 
Brady, brother of the former; Sarah McClelland, and William, 
father of William L. Cooke, of Northumberland. 

May 8, Margaret, wife of Mathias Alsbaugh, born May 27, 1759. 

June 5, Thomas Forster, aged fifty-eight. (Major in the Revolu- 
tion.) 

September 13, Reverend Hugh Morrison, aged forty-eight. His 
wife died in April, aged forty-nine. They are both buried in the 
old yard at Sunbury. They left five children : Mary Ann, who after- 
wards married Andrew Hutchinson, and who died in Lewisburg, 
October 18, 1868, aged eighty-two; Isabella, married to Isaac B. 
Jones; Eliza, John, and Jane. In 1822, these heirs sold their 
father's place in Buffalo to Conrad Dunkle, whose descendants still 
own it. Eliza willed ter all to the Presbyterian church, at Lewis- 
burg. (I saw her broken tombstone lying about the church not 
long since.) 

September 27, Honorable Samuel Dale, aged sixty-three, and left 
a widow, Eliza, who died April 23, 1835. Children : Judge Samuel 
Dale, of Lancaster; William Dale, Chillisquaque ; James Dale, 



1805.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 345 

Esquire, late of Lewisburg • Ann, afterwards married to John Ma- 
clay ; Elizabeth, afterwards married to Aaron Chamberlin ; Marga- 
ret Simonton, late of Lewisburg, deceased. In his will, he speaks 
of the black girl, "Dinah," belonging to his wife. Dinah was liv- 
ing within our recollection. 

October 16, Esther Laughlin, wife of Adam Laughlin, of West 
Buffalo. 

Michael Buttorf, of White Deer. 

Peter Swartz, of White Deer. 

Eve Iddings, wife of William. 

John Simpson, former register and recorder. His handwriting 
looks like copper-plate engraving. He was succeeded by his son, 
Jeremiah, in 1798. 

Jacob Dreisbach, of Buffalo. 

Jacob Brunner, of West Buffalo, (now Limestone.) 

Deitrich Wertz, of White Deer. 



A 



1805. 



Sudden Adjournment of the House of Representatives — Ordination of 
Reverend Thomas Hood — First Acadamy built at Lewisburg — Duel 
between John Binns and Samuel Stewart — Political Parties in 
1805. 




NITED States Senator, Samuel Maclay. Member of 
Congress, Andrew Gregg. Speaker of the House, 
Simon Snyder. Members elected in October, Robert 
Smith, Leonard Rupert, John Bull, and Abraham Mc- 
Kinney. Register and Recorder, John Boyd, commissioned De- 
cember 20. 

Christopher Seebold, commissioned Justice of the Peace for East 
Buffalo, January 7. 



34(> ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1805. 

Prices, February i8, flour, $\\ 50 to $12 per barrel ; wheat, 13^-. 
6^., and will keep up, as a war between England and Spain is almost 
certain ; Rye is 5^. (yd. to ds. ; flax seed, 9 to 91^. — Thomas Stubbs, 
Middletown. May 28, flour very dull, seUing from wagons on the 
streets at $10 50, at |ii on credit; but price is ^11 50 to $11 75. — 
G. & W. G. Latimer, Philadelphia. 

A road was laid out in April, from the west line of Andrew Bill- 
myer's, by Mary Harris', to intersect the road from Derrstown to 
Japhet Morton's. This is the road from Kephart's to the turnpike, 
past W. L. Harris.' Hugh Wilson, Daniel Rees, and John Brice 
were the viewers. 

For a singular freak of a Buffalo Valley boy, I quote from Binns' 
Autobiography : " During the session of 1804-5 ^ ^^'^.s in the House 
of Representatives of Pennsylvania, at Lancaster, when a well-dressed 
young man, of a respectable family from Northumberland county, 
about the dusk of the evening, threw open the inner door, and en- 
tered the body of the House. In a loud, clear and distinct voice he 
said : ' Mr. Speaker, I am charged by the Lord God with a message 
to this House, to direct them forthwith to pass a law for the removal 
of the seat of government from Lancaster to the top of the Blue Hill.' 
Many of the members called out, 'Turn him out.' Instantly the 
door-keeper and sergeant-at-arms, both elderly men, one at each side, 
seized the intruder by the collar of his coat to eject him from the 
House, upon which he tripped up their heels, and left them both 
sprawling on the floor. A motion to adjourn was promptly made 
and carried. The young man, who was laboring under insanity, 
remained three days about Lancaster, then started for home on 
horseback. It is said and believed that he never drew bit until he 
arrived home, a distance of one hundred and fifteen miles. In a few 
minutes after he arrived, the horse dropped dead." — See Roan's 
Journal, May 20, 1809. 

Mr. Hood at Buffalo. 

Mr. Hood preached at Buffalo from the ist of April. He was 
ordained on the 2d of October. Mr. Stewart preached the ordina- 
tion sermon from i Corinthians ix: 16 : " For though I preach the 
Gospel, I have nothing to glory of," &c. Mr. Bryson gave the 



1805.1 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 347 



charge to the people. Mr. Hood's first sermon after was from Ro- 
mans V, 5 : " And hope maketh not ashamed." In which he showed 
the nature and advantages of evangehcal hope, and the amazing dif- 
ference between the life of the believer and that of the hypocrite. 
His salary was fixed at ^220 per year. In May, a resolution was 
passed to raise it to $300, but not carried out, as in 1809-10-11-12 
he was still paid but ^220. 

September 5, trustees elect of Buffalo— George Knox, Gideon 
Smith, Andrew McClanachan, James McClellan, Christopher John- 
ston, Robert Forster, Adam LaughHn, and Hugh Wilson. 

Removals out of the bounds— Tenbrooke Chamberlin, John 
Clarke^JiHwor, Joseph Gilliland, Thomas Sutherland, and William 
Thompson, junior. 

In 1805, among the names of members of Dreisbach's congrega- 
tion, occur : Barnhart, Lorentz; Heinly, John ; Reber, John; Reedy, 
Andrew ; Ream, George ; Spyker, Peter ; Wormley, George ; Zel- 
ler, Benjamin ; Zeller, John. 

The log cabin academy built by subscription. It occupied the pres- 
ent site of the parsonage of the Presbyterian church in Lewisburg. 

Doctor Charles Byers was the principal physician of Lewisburg and 
vicinity. 

Binns and Stewart Duel. 

The duel between John Binns and Samuel Stewart is noteworthy 
as being one of the last fought upon the soil of Pennsylvania, and 
on account of the prominence of the actors, having special influence 
in causing^ the passage of the act of 31st March, 1806. The duel 
was fought on Sunday, the i6th of December. Tradition says 
Stewart spent the night before at Andrew Albright'fe tavern, in 
Lewisburg. I extract a circumstantial account of it from John 
Binns' Autobiogaphy : 

On Saturday, November 5, 1805, while I was in the public ball 
alley, at Sunbury, with a bat in my hand, tossing a ball against the 
wall, waiting for Major Charles Maclay to play a game, a very tall, 
stout stranger came to me, and said, "My name is Sam Stewart, 
of Lycoming county ; your name, I understand, is John Binns, and 
you are editor of the Republican Argus ^ I replied, " Iwas." " I 
wish to know who is the author of the letters published in that paper 



34S ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1805. 

signed 'one of the people.' " ''For what purpose," said I. He re- 
plied, "There are remarks in one of them which reflect on my char- 
acter, and I must know the author." I declined to tell him, but 
said if there was anything untrue it should be corrected. He was 
standing on my left, and instantly threw his left arm across my breast, 
and with it held both my arms tight above the elbows, and, at the 
same time, threw his right arm across the back of my head, violently 
pushing his forefinger into the corner of my right eye, evidently 
with the intent to tear it out of my head. I struck him with the 
bat with all my strength, when he left go his hold, seized me about 
the waist, and endeavored to throw me down. We were separated 
by Major Maclay and others, who came into the alley. In his effort 
to gouge out my eye, he left a scar which will accompany me to my 
grave. The ball alley was attached to Henry Shaffer's hotel. I 
went into the hotel and wrote a note : 

SuNBURY, November 2, 1805. 

After threatening me like a bravo, you have attacked me like a 
ruffian. Some satisfaction ought to be rendered for such conduct. 

If you have the spirit and courage to meet me as a gentleman, 
and will appoint time and place, and meet me with pistols, accom- 
panied by a friend, what has passed shall be overlooked by 

John Binns. 
Samuel Stewart, Esquire. 

To this note Mr. Stewart returned a verbal answer, "that he was 
going to the city, but would be back in two or three weeks." 

On the 13th of December, a note was handed me by Mr. Andrew 
Kennedy, printer of the Northumberland Gazette : 

Northumberland, December 13, 1805. 

When I received your challenge I was on my way to the city, and 
had it not in my power to meet you ; but now I am here, ready to 
see you. You will, therefore, mention the time and place, and you 
will have it in your power to try my spirits, that you so much 
doubted. It must be immediately. Let me hear from you. 

Samuel Stewart. 

I replied that as soon as I could get Major Maclay here I would 
be ready. That I had sent for him, expected him that evening, and 
the meeting could be the next morning. On the evening of the 



1805.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 349 



13th, a friend informed me that application had been made to a 
magistrate for a warrant of arrest, to bind me over to keep the 
peace. I immediately wrote a note : 

Saturday Morning. 

Sir : — I have just heard that application has been made to a mag- 
istrate to prevent our meeting. I write to request that you will 
instantly appoint some other place, say Derrstown, Milton, or any 
other place more convenient to you, where my friend and myself 
will attend. 

I then wrapped a pair of pistols in my overcoat pocket, walked 
about half a mile to the house of William Bonham, where I directed 
my horse, and any note that came, should be forwarded. Major 
Maclay soon arrived, and, after giving him a full statement of the 
occurrences, he went to Northumberland to settle the time and place. 
While we talked in the back room, the constable rapped and inquired 
if I was in the house. He was told I had gone up the road. On 
Mr. Maclay's return, he told me the meeting was to be at seven 
o'clock the next morning, at the end of a fence behind Lawshe's 
house, opposite Derrstown, where we agreed to sleep that night. 

We were on the ground at seven o'clock, just in the gray of the 
morning. In a few minutes we saw Mr. Stewart and Mr. Kennedy 
coming down the lane. After mutual salutations, Mr. Maclay pro- 
posed that we should cross the swamp, and retire to a more private 
place, where the ground was perfectly clear. Mr. Kennedy proposed 
that the parties should settle the distance. I objected, that being 
the duty of the seconds. Mr. Maclay and Kennedy then retired, 
and, after some conversation, stepped eight paces, and placed Mr. 
Stewart and myself at the extreme ends of the line. Mr. Maclay 
then said, "It is agreed between Mr. Kennedy and myself that 
if either of the parties shall leave his ground before the affair is 
entirely settled, such party shall be regarded as disgraced." The 
seconds then retired to load the pistols. Mr. Maclay told me after- 
wards that he at this time suggested to Mr. Kennedy the propriety 
of an effort at reconciliation. Mr. Kennedy said " that was impos- 
sible, unless Mr. Binns would apologize for the language used in his 
message to Mr. Stewart. For my part, I think nothing should be 
attempted until the parties have at least interchanged a shot." Ma- 
clay and Kennedy drew near to us, and Maclay said : ' ' When the 



J50 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1S05. 

word ' fire' is given you are to fire soon as you can. If either delay 
while one of us count three, and say 'stop,' that one shall, for that 
time, lose his fire. A snap to be considered a fire." 

The seconds tossed up to determine which should give the word. 
Maclay won. The pistols were handed us, and discharged so simul- 
taneously that but one report was heard. Neither balls took effect. 
The pistols were again handed to the seconds. They retired a few 
paces, and Mr. Maclay assured me afterwards that he used every 
honorable argument to move Mr. Kennedy to present a proposition 
for settlement. This he did without effect. Maclay then raised his 
voice and said, you had better consult your principal, and I will do 
the same. Maclay's first words to me were : " Kennedy is a scoun- 
drel; he is determined to have you shot." I said : " you know the 
terms we agreed upon, and we will carry them out." The pistols were 
again handed to us. After a short pause, Mr. Maclay came between 
us and said: " Gentlemen, I think this business has gone far enough, 
and may be amicably and honorably adjusted." He proposed that 
Mr. Stewart should apologize for his attack, and that then Mr. Binns 
should declare that the publication was not made to wound the feel- 
ings of Mr. Stewart, or affect his character; but because Mr. Binns 
believed it to be true, and that it was matter proper for public in- 
formation. Mr. Stewart then said: "If God has given me more 
strength than other men, I do not think I ought to abuse it. I 
never struck a man in my life that I was not sorry for it." This 
was not held sufficient apology. After a pause Mr. Stewart made 
the required apology, and I made the declaration my friend pro- 
posed. The parties shook hands, and at a tavern in the neigh- 
borhood, they and their friends breakfasted together. Mr. Stewart 
and I continued friends until his death, many years afterward. 
When he was elected to the Assembly from Lycoming, some years 
after, he voted for me, then editor of the Democratic Press, as a 
director of the Pennsylvania Bank. Major Maclay was then about 
twenty-eight years of age, and a man of much promise. Son of 
Honorable Samuel Maclay, at that time a United States Senator, 
He returned to Buffalo Valley ; I to Northumberland. He died 
soon after this. 

I found, on my return, that it was Joseph Priestly that had the war- 
rant issued for my arrest. He saw me leave with a small mahogany 



1805.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 351 

case, in which he knew Judge Cooper kept his pistols, and suspected 
what was about to take place. The termination of this business put 
an end to anything like personal rudeness by any member of the 
Federal party, so long as I remained in Northumberland, and doubt- 
less had its effect after my removal to Philadelphia. 

This duel was fought beyo-nd the marsh, near what was then called 
Allen's. Andrew Kennedy was the father of the late Andrew Ken- 
nedy, of Lewisburg. Lawshe's hotel was below the dam, nearly 
opposite Strohecker's, kept by John Lawshe, grandfather of A. M. 
Lawshe. Flavel Roan, in his journal, carefully notes the fact, that 
he always took a drink there before crossing the ferry to Derrstown. 
The house was burned down some years ago. Sam Stewart, as he 
was called, was sheriff and treasurer of Lycoming county, and the 
Federal candidate for Senator, in 1808, against General John Bur- 
rows, the Democratic candidate. 

Political. 

July 10. Extract from a letter of James Cochran, of Mead town- 
ship, Crawford county, to Robert Irwin : ' ' On the call for a con- 
vention to amend the constitution and on our new candidate for Gov- 
ernor, the people are much divided ; but there will be a majority in 
favor of the convention and Simon Snyder in this county and many 
of the neighboring counties. From every appearance the majority 
will be considerable. From the insolent behavior of old Tom, 
(Governor Thomas McKean,) in my opinion, he merits no longer 
the approbation of the people, not only from his impertinent lan- 
guage, but for the last three years he has an undoubted right to be 
charged with wasting his Lord's goods ; therefore, agreeably to St. 
Luke, xvi: 3 v., he has a right to either dig or beg, whichever he 
thinks he caii do best, for he will be no longer steward. The ''Feds " 
and "Quids" are squealing like fell -hyenas about it, and fear of 
being drowned before they see the water; but it will turn out like all 
the rest of their hot-water injections — they will burst like the bubble, 
with the weight of their own air, and leave them a blank in society, 
or rather, a vestige of contempt by all the true friends of the prin- 
ciples of seventy-six." A mingle of metaphors not often found in so 
short a composition. 



jj-2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. fl805. 

October 4, the Governor, by his secretary, WiUiam Thompson, 
writes from Lancaster to Robert Irwin : " The friends of Mr. Sny- 
der have circulated in the counties of Northampton and Berks, that 
Governor McKean has promised, after his re-election, to appoint Mr. 
James Ross, of Pittsburg, Chief Justice of the Supreme court. I am 
authorized to assure you that the tale .is wholly a falsehood, fabri- 
cated on the eve of the approaching political contest, for base elec- 
tioneering purposes, an idea of the kind having never been suggested 
to the Governor by any friend of Mr. Ross, or by the Governor to 
any person whatever ; nor, indeed, is it believed Mr. Ross would 
accept the appointment if offered to him." 

In order that my readers may understand the allusions in the 
Cochran letter, I will state, as part of the history of the time, that 
Governor McKean had vetoed an act substituting referees for jury 
trials, and prohibiting the employment of counsel in reference cases ; 
also, the acl extending the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, 
which, however, was passed over his veto. This, with the acquittal 
of the judges who were impeached, incensed the ultra Democrats, 
and they immediately started the project of remodeling the Consti- 
tution. The moderate Democrats took the name of Constitution- 
alists, and organized a constitutional society, and the other section 
of Democrats a club called "The Friends of the People," the Feder- 
alists looking on, and enjoying the strife. The ultra Democrats 
nominated Snyder for Governor, and the friends of the Constitu- 
tion, McKean, who was elected Governor, and entered upon his 
third term on the 17th of December, 

Marriages, by Henry Spyker, Esquire. 

Peter Epler to Eve Christ. Witnesses, Henry Fulmer, Chris- 
tian Van Gundy, John Smith and wife, &c., (April 4.) 

September 8, John Lawshe with Polly Sites. Witnesses, Nancy 
Robb, John Dreisbach, &c. 

Deaths. 

George Martin, White Deer. Children : Jane, Elizabeth, John, 
Robert, and Matthew. January 15, John Swineford, of Middle- 



1806.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jjj 

burg; born April i6, 1755. Martin Housel, West Buffalo. Chil- 
dren : Jacob, Joshua, Catherine, Mary and Elizabeth. September 
22, Catherine, wife of Abraham Eyer ; born, October 15, 1752; 
married, May, 1776. Peter Jodon, of West Buffalo. Captain 
George Overmeier. Children : George, Peter, Philip, John, David, 
Jacob, Catherine, (Margaret, then dead,) Elizabeth, Eve, Esther, 
Magdalena, and Barbara. To Jacob he left his rifle and shof-pouch 
carried in the Revolution. Adam Shewel, of Centre. Jabel Fred- 
erick, of Buffalo. George Motz, Penn's. Children : John, Lo- 
rentz. December 19, Catherine Dunkle. She was born February 
iT^, 1769; married October 24, 1784. 



06. 




Additional Residents of East Buffalo, Lewisburg, White Deer, and 
West Buffalo — First Methodist Camp-Meeting. 

HOMAS COOPER, President Judge, commissioned 
March i. Members, Simon Snyder, Leonard Rupert, 
Abraham McKinney, and Major Robert Smith, of Tur- 
but. David Taggert, Charles Maclay, and Samuel Awl, 
County Commissioners. John Frick, Clerk. April i, John Thomp- 
son, junior, commissioned Justice of the Peace. July 4, William 
Poak. John Lynn, of Erie, was the principal School-Teacher of the 
Valley. 

Additional Residents, East Buffalo — Ammon, Andreas ; Badorf, 
Michael, blacksmith ; Bostian, Andrew ; Brown, John, miller ; Culp, 
Peter, shoe-maker ; Daugherty, James ; Geddes, James, single ; Gra- 
ham, Alexander, merchant ; Haverling, Jacob, weaver ; Hafer, Lud- 
wig ; Holmes, Jonathan, tanner; McClure, Richard, chair-maker; 
Marriner, James; Mettlin, Patrick; Morrow, Alexander; Reem, 
23 



3S4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1806. 



George, carpenter ; Reish, Daniel ; Renner, Jacob ; Renner, Fred- 
erick; Strayhorn, Nathaniel ; Vaness, John ; Winter^ Daniel, car- 
penter. 

Lewisburg — Conser, John ; Crosgrove, Samuel ; Kremer, George ; 
Renfrew, Jacob ; Wolfe, Christian, hatter. 

Additional Residents of White Deer — Clark, John, William's son ; 
Dersham, Jacob ; Farris, Dennis ; Lushbaugh, John ; Madden, Neal, 
tailor; Marshall, James; Monpeck, Nicholas ; Reznor, David; Rora- 
baugh, Philip ; Schock, Andrew, wagon-maker. 

West Buffalo — Aikey, Lewis ; Betzer, Peter ; Bohr, Michael, 
miller; Eilert, John ; Green, Abbot ; Hildebrand, Levi ; Kaufman, 
David; Kimple, Jacob, potter; Kleckner, John, tavern and still- 
house ; Maize, Jacob, tavern ; Mitchell, George, blacksmith ; Shri- 
ner, Jacob ; Zeller, John ; Zeller, Henry. 

In August, the first Methodist camp-meeting in this part of the 
State was held on Chillisquaque creek, one and one half miles from 
the river. 

Marriages. 

January 2, Ludwig Coasin with Susanna Olifant, in presence of 
both their parents, Joseph Stillwell, Thomas Nesbit, &c. 

April 7, Frederick Renner with Magdalena Krause, daughter of 
Christian Krause, deceased, in presence of his father, and step- 
mother, and brothers, Jacob Renner and wife, Benjamin Renner, 
Daniel Sheckler and wife. 

May 15, George Troxel with Mary Hoffman, in presence of Wil- 
liam Clark and wife. Doctor James Dougal, Andrew Heckle and 
wife, George Derr and wife, John Betz and wife, Andrew Ensworth 
and wife, Abraham Troxell and wife. 

June 12, John Sergeant with Catharine Beyer, in presence of her 
parents, brother James, Peggy Evans, &c. 

November 16, Michael Straub to Sarah Grove. 

Deaihs. 

John Pollock, Lewisburg. Michael Smith. John Graybill, Ma- 
hantango. William Steele, Buffalo. Henry Richard, East Buffalo. 
James Adams, White Deer, left a widow, Margaret ; children : Agnes, 
Joseph, Sarah. James was his grandson, and son uf Joseph. Mary 
Green, widow of Captain Joseph Green. Henry Myer, West Buffalo. 



i8o^. 




Pexn's Creek Improtejiext Lottery — Extracts from Bt.vxs' Argcs 

County Convention — Gterman High School in Buffalo Township 

Roan's Journal — John Aurand — Character of the Legal Business 
AND Sketches of Leading Circuit Lawyers, by late George A. Snyder. 
Esquire. 

[ NITED STATES SENATORS, Samuel Maclay and An- 
drew Gregg, the latter elected January 13. Member of 
Congress, Daniel Montgomery, junior. Senator, James 
Laird. Speaker House of Representatives, Simon Sny- 
der. Members elected in October, Simon Snyder, Leonard Rupert, 
Abraham McKinney, and' John Murray. 

Commissioner elect, Samuel Bond. Total expenditures of the 
county last year, ^5,716. Sheriff, Jared Irwin. Treasurer, Simon 
Snyder. Postmaster at Lewisburg, C. Baldy. 

Additional Residents of West Buffalo — Harris, Amos, shoe- 
maker ; Lytle, Charles ; Peters, Philip, tinner ; Reed, Robert and 
William ; Ruhl, Philip ; Stitzer, John, junior ; Stover, John and 
Samuel ; Wilkert, Jacob. 

AIifflinburg—K.&Qner, William, tailor; Lemon, Thomas, school- 
master ; Miller, Doctor ; Smith, Doctor ; Swentzell, Jacob ; Year- 
ick, Simon. Andrew Ensworth sold his property and removed from 
the Valley ; also, William Irwin, junior, Robert Harris, and Alex- 
ander Steel. 

In White Deer 7iew Names on the Assessmetit List Anthony, 

Henry; Anthony, Nicholas, shoe-maker; Billman, John and Jo- 
siah; Chamberlin, Uriah ; Clingan, Thomas; Heckle, George ; 
Huntingdon, Simon ; McCorley, Robert ; Shaffer, John ; Shamp, 
Jesse ; Pancoast, William, blacksmith ; Yocum, Jesse. 

Additional Residents in East Biiffalo — Beidleman, Valentine 

355 



356 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1807. 



Daniel, and Jacob ; Cochran, John; Eagler, Conrad, shoe-maker; 
Forsythe, Samuel; Hight, Henry, shoe-maker; Hummel, Christian, 
shoe-maker ; Jamison, John ; Linn, Daniel, miller ; Noll, Henry ; 
Trester, George ; Wagner and Kline, grist-mill ; Wallace, Wil- 
liam; Wilson, Charles; Wommer, Jacob. 

Lewisburg — Bellman, George, clock-maker. 

New Berlin — Berger, Jacob, millwright ; Miller, Philip ; Shref- 
ler, Henry ; Stain or Stem, Doctor Jacob. 

By act of March 31, Samuel Templeton, George Long, Robert 
Barber, Peter Fisher, and James Duncan, commissioners, were au- 
thorized to raise by lottery ^4,000, for the improvement of Penn's 
creek, from the mouth of Green's saw-mill. Robert Barber was 
appointed treasurer, and in October^ they advertised a scheme of 
cash prizes, amounting to $30,000 ; nothing came of it. 

April 10, the middle district of the supreme court was created, 
and Sunbury fixed for the place of holding the court, on the first 
Monday of July. 

The Political Situation. 

Argus, July 27, "appointments by the Governor: William Wil- 
son, major general of the ninth division ; Wilham Hepburn, of the 
tenth. Both these gentlemen are associate judges, and thorough- 
paced Federalists. Elections by the people : Christopher Baldy, 
brigadier general first brigade, a Democrat, by a large majority. 
Colonel John Jones, Alexander Moore, George Weirick, and Thomas 
Youngman^ all Democrats, by decided majorities. For brigade in- 
spector, Frederick Evans, 435 to 80 for Charles Drum, Quid." 

February 4, Binns' Argus has the message relative to Burr's con- 
spiracy. The lot of ground on which the old jail stood, offered 
for sale. Binns. says, at the court of quarter sessions of Centre 
county, held last week, there was no business for the grand jury, 
save one bill for keeping a tippling-house. So much for the peace- 
able demeanor of one of the most Democratic counties in Pennsyl- 
vania. He thinks Rankin's vote for Gregg for United States Sena- 
tor will prevent his return as representative of that county. "Hugh 
White and other Federalists" contested the election of Isaac Smith, 
member for Lycoming; but Smith was declared the sitting member. 



1807.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 357 

In his valedictory he says he has sold his type, fixtures, and rented 
his house and office, in Northumberland, to Mathew Huston, by 
whom the Argus will be conducted. Mr. Huston is clerk of the 
House of Representatives, which will detain him at Lancaster, until 
the ist of April. Mr. Huston is a man of good understanding, and 
will be an independent editor. . In politics, he is a decided Demo- 
cratic Republican. Has been a soldier in the Revolution, and served 
in the Legislature. In bidding farewell to John Binns' paper, I 
quote one of his saucy items: " I do not know whether Rudolph 
Spangler was or was not, as the Lancaster Journal says, at a cock- 
fight, for a whole day. If he was, to the neglect of his public duty, 
he was to blame ; but I do know most certainly that Timothy Mat- 
lack, the master of rolls of this State, was at a common cock-fight, 
the cheek-by-jowl companion of negroes, vagabonds, and spoils- 
men." 

June 3, Mathew Huston issued the first number of his Argus, and 
in his second number attacks Governor McKean for appointing a 
number of Senators to lucrative offices before their terms expired. 
Says it is morally certain he had no relatives in Pennsylvania or any 
quarter of the globe, who might be imported to fill those offices. 

The attack of the Leopard, on the Chespeake, on the 2 2d of June, 
brings forth a fearful editorial, in which Great Britian is styled an 
"incurable old bawd," &c. I quote some of the toasts at the 4th 
of July celebration, to show the drift of politics. At Selinsgrove : 
" Thomas McKean — alas, how art thou fallen." "■ 2d Tuesday of 
October, 1808 — may it give us a farmer for Governor, who will care 
more for the people than for the dust under his feet, and not a student 
of morality, whose only care is for his family, lawyers, and sharpers." 
' ' The besotted, card-playing general and the golden calf — may they 
ever be haunted with trout visions." "The Democratic presses — 
the nurses of political virtue." 

At Milton, Captain Thomas Pollock, president, Doctor James 
Dougal, vice president: "Thomas McKean — political damnation 
to all political hypocrites." "Aaron Burr, the treacherous apostate 
Whig — may the portion of eternal infamy be the fate of every trai- 
tor to virtue, liberty, and independence." "The American fair — 
may Columbia boast of a race of daughters, amiable and beautiful, 
and may Hymen join them to Republican merit." Kennedy's paper. 



358 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1807. 

May 19, attacks an article in Binns' paper, as smelling strongly of 
the committee-room at Derrstown, and says Esquire Laird, the 
State Senator, is a favorite pupil of the professors at the political ' 
college of Derrstown, and hints that Tilghman might be got out to 
run against Simon Snyder for Governor. The Quids, he says, talk 
of Judge Spade, who knows no more of politics than of Arabic, and 
who may possess qualifications for the place, but nobody knows it. 

Huston on Burr : ' ' Burr is to the body-politic like an emetic to 
the physical body. Since he has got into operation, the body-poli- 
tic has discharged and brought into view a huge mass of swindlers, 
speculators, sharpers, jugglers, jockies, pettifoggers. These followers 
of our Cataline, whom he collected from the harlot's stew, the gaming 
table, and the wine-bibber's shop, must appear truly pitiful when 
they slink home with their golden prospects blasted, and their leader 
the subject of scorn and contempt." 

James Boyd's toast at the Danville celebration is unique : " The 
Quids — a jackass apiece to them, and a snail's horn for a spur, so 
that each mule may ride his own ass." Daniel Montgomery pre- 
sided at this meeting. James Laird was vice, and Andrew Russell 
was secretary. The names are given, so that we may know on what 
side in politics our antecedents were. 

July 13, Governor McKean issued a general order for a draft of 
the militia of the State, in prospect of a war with Great Britain, to 
be divided into two grand divisions, of which Major General Thomas 
Craig and General Joseph Heister were appointed commanders. The 
quota for Northumberland division was ten hundred and forty. The 
delegates from the different townships to the meeting held at Sunbury, 
on the 1 8th of August, to express the sentiments of the county, in ref- 
erence to the attack upon the Chesapeake, were : Sunbury, Andrew 
Albright and John Boyd ; Buffalo, Samuel Maclay and Christopher 
Baldy ; West Buffalo, George Youngman and Henry Gray ; Centre, 
George Weirick and Michael Wittenmyer ; Penn's, Jacob Lechner 
and Daniel Rhoads ; Point, Matthew Huston and Andrew Kennedy ; 
White Deer, Seth Iredell and William Clark ; Washington, William 
Pollock, &c. Colonel Robert Clark, of Derry, was chosen presi- 
dent. They resolved unanimously to support the Government in 
such measures as may be necessary and proper to obtain satisfaction 
for former injuries and insults committed by the British Govern- 



1807.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jjg 

ment, and security against such aggressions in time to come. The 
meeting at Selinsgrove to appoint delegates to this meeting, was 
presided over by George Holstein. Committee on resolutions, 
Frederick Evans, Christian Welker, and Daniel Rohrer. 

By an order of Frederick Evans, it appears that the thirty-ninth 
regiment (district Buffalo Valley) was to furnish one hundred and 
thirty-seven men, to rendezvous at General Baldy's, on the 24th of 
September. Seventy-seventh regiment draft, one hundred and 
twenty-seven men, to meet at Swinefordstown, on the 23d. 

At a meeting of the Society of the Friends of the people of Sun- 
bury, held at the public buildings, on Saturday, September 26, and 
at a meeting of the same society of Point township, held at the house 
of David Taggert, on Monday, September 29, resolutions were 
passed arraigning Michael Leib at the tribunal of public opinion, for 
secretly and hypocritically laboring to defeat Simon Snyder in 1805 ; 
for intriguing with the Quids to bring forward Joseph Hiester for 
Governor. These proceedings are signed by Andrew Albright, presi- 
dent of the society of Sunbury ; David Taggert, at Point. 

June 27, John Sierer and wife, Susanna, Christopher Baldy and 
wife, Susanna, conveyed two acres and one hundred and ten perches 
of the Henry Sees tract to John Kaufman and John Rengler, trustees 
elect of a German high school, in Buffalo township, to be erected on 
said premises, and kept for that purpose forever. 

Domestic Incidents taken chiefly from F lave I Roan's Journal. 

He was teaching school at this time at Jimmy Wilson's school- 
house, near where Adam Stahl now lives. 

January t . Citizen Kremer (afterward Honorable George) called 
at Clingan's, (William Clingan, Esquire's.) A very great talker. 
Brought sweetmeats for the ladies. 5th. Roan McClure's youngsters 
and Richards', from Derrstown, at Clingan's. Amusements, selling 
pawns, shaving, &c., until after twelve. loth. Citizen Kremer again 
at Clingan's. Has a great memory, and likes to hear himself dis- 
course. 13th. Clingan's young people down at Roan McClure's 
until after twelve. 24th. Went to Sunbury, crossing on the ice. Got 
a hard fall. Stopped at James Black's. Agreeably entertained by 
Esquire Buyers' daughters and Mr. Black's young people. 29th. 



3(>o ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY, [1807. 

Young people at Derrstown singing-school. Thirty young people 
at Baldy's singing, 

February 8, Sunday. The ladies would not sing, because Tommy 
raised an old tune, " Isle of Wright." 9th. Six degrees colder than 
it has been for two years, by Doctor Dougal's thermometer, nth. 
Visitors at Clingan's, Doctor Dougal and lady, Mrs. Linn and rela- 
tives. Sister Clark, &c. 13th. Ice broke in Buffalo creek, and carried 
off the bridge. 17th. Youngsters went to Esquire Kelly's. 22d. 
Youngsters at Dale's. Returned at three, a. m. 25th. Charles Hall, 
Esquire, and lady at Clingan's, and Mrs. David Linn, Esquire Kel- 
ly's youngsters, J. Thompson's youngsters, Charlotte Candor, and 
Thomas Howard came. All went over to Aunt Dale's, to spend the 
evening. Kelly's lads very sociable. 26th. Esquire McLanahan and 
lady at C's. I think the Squire will run for Assembly. 27th. Thomp- 
son's, Dale's, Chamberlin's youngsters, Boyd Smith, Bella Kelly, 
Charlotte Candor, spent an agreeable evening at C's. Went away 
at one, a. m. 

March 5. Clingan's youngsters, with Gideon Smith and J. Thomp- 
son, went to visit at Chamberlin's. Returned at three a. m. Citizen 
Kremer here again. 7th. Roan Clarke at C's. He is making great 
progress at knowledge with citizen K. Has a learned book with 
him, puzzling Tommy and George. Roan's route to Sunbury — cross 
at Nesbit's ferry, drink at Lawshe's, stop to see Judge Wilson at Chil- 
lisquaque, leave his horse at D. Taggert's, and walk over to Sunbury. 
Return — stops at Dentler's, Lawshe's, Metzgar's, Derrstown, call at 
Roan McClure's, sleeps at Giddy Smith's. 17th. Wilson Smith calls 
to request Clingans to spend to-morrow evening at Doctor Vanval- 
zah's. 21st. Called at Poak's, Metzgar's, and went to see the rope- 
dancing at Rees'. 23d. Rope-dancingat Baldy's. 27th. Went to 
Hoffman's. Had a talk with Tom Iddings about Steel being an officer. 
31st. Snowed all day. Snow eighteen inches deep. 

April 4. View on the bridge at Derrstown. Slept at Krenier's. 
Called at Metzgar's. Went down to Franklin's. Saw some boats 
start down the river. Called at Doctor Byers'. Saw Franklin's leg ; 
an ugly sight. 8th. Snow five feet deep in Jimmy Wilson's lane, 
loth. Left Clingan's, stopped at Baldy's, then to Youngmanstown, 
where I stopped at Van Buskirk's. Met Esquire Robert Barber and 
Abbot Green, with whom I had business. Slept at Smelcher's, in 



1807.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 361 

a bed at the fire, and saw sparking going on. 13th. Came to 
Baldy's; drank too much whisky; spent the evening with Sheriff 
Jared Irwin there. 15th. Crossed at Black's, went to Lawshe's, 
spent tlie evening there, and slept with old Sam Brady. ^ 

May 2. Went with Mrs. Hood to White Deer valley. They 
sing new tunes and Watts' Psalms here. 4th. Went to Newbury, 
where I met Billy Dougan, and went home with him. 5 th. Heard 
Mr. Siers preach from the text "Come, for all things are ready." 
He said the man should have brought his wife with him to the wed- 
ding. [He was no doubt the ancestor of the sensational- preachers 
of our day.] Sunday, loth. Heard Mr. Smilie, Baptist, preach at 
Jaysburg, on the fruitful vine. Crossed from Jaysburg to David 
Russel's, where Doctor Davidson prescribed for me. 13th. Crossed 
the mountain with Mr. Smilie. Stopped at Week's, [now Union- 
town.] He went to preach, and I to Esquire Brown's. His route 
home is marked by stops at G. Anderson's, Graham's, Hugh Don- 
nelly's, [Uniontown,] Iredell's fishery, and John Hoffman's. 

June 7. Hoffman's son and daughter went to the consecration 
of the new church at Youngmanstown. 9th. The boys went fish- 
ing with Mr. Hood. 14th. Reuben Davis, a student full of self- 
importance, dined at Clingan's. 24th. At George Clark's, took tea 
with the amiable Miss Becca, who displayed a gold ring on her 
finger. 

Wednesday, July i. Election at Baldy's for militia field-officers. 
Cider oil plenty, which occasioned words and blows. 5th. Mr. 
Hood preached at Buffalo, Psalm xxvii : 4. He gave me a rub, in 
the last part of his sermon, for not attending church. 19th. A 
great thunder storm, with hail. 20th. Reverend Mr. Hood with 
us, cutting wheat. He is a great cradler. 24th. Mr. Clingan has 
seven hundred dozen, and not two bottles of whisky drank at the 
cutting. Sunday, 26th. Mr. Grier and Mr. Hood exchange. Buf- 
falo people not used to such long sermons. He is not so able an 
orator as Mr. Hood. 27th. Election at Derrstown. Fighting going 
on in the evening. Citizen Kremer got marked. Miss Wilson and 
Miss Craig, of Northampton, at Mr. Hayes'. They are great belles. 
28th. Election for rifle company officers, at Clingan's. 29th. Elec- 
tion for company officers, at Richard Irwin's, [White Deer.] Ed- 

^ Uncle of Captain Samuel Brady.— iii;i«. 



362 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1807. 

ward Morton and I attended and clerked. We had plenty of talk 
and whisky. 30th. Went down to John Reber's. Clerked here, 
too. Another election of officers. Plenty of drink here, also. 31st. 
Went to Michael Fought's, [near Chappell hollow.] Clerked at 
another election. 

August — . Captain Fought went along. Got to Baldy's before 
breakfast. Another election. Plenty of cider royal. 8th. At Mil- 
ton. The Flemings and Vincents there, raising a troop. 13th. At 
Mr. Huston's, his daughter, though small, a great belle, [afterwards 
wife of John Taggert, Esquire, of Northumberland. She is recently 
deceased, 1871.] 

September 6. Mr. Clingan and George went to John Cornelius' 
funeral. Mathew Laird says he will be very much missed in his 
family, as he was a very shifty man. Saturday, 19th. Over at the 
camp-meeting beyond Milton. Went to town. Called at Dan 
Smith's, William Pollock's, and drank wine at Calhoun's, with the 
Barrs. Sunday night at camp. Sermon from Revelations, iii: 18. 
The moon shining through the trees, the fire, candles in the camp, 
the large, quiet crowd of people, made the scene romantic and 
solemn. 20th. Great carrying on at camp. Criswell's boys got 
happy. 26th. Mr. Bryson preached on Psalm cxxxiii. Billy Peak's 
wife fainted in meeting. 

October 3. Drank a morning dram with Mr. , the Metho- 
dist minister from Lycoming, and went home with Robert Lyon. 
He is very poor, but hospitable. 6th. At Franklin's. Albright and 
wife there. Took dinner at Doctor Byer's. Called at Peak's. 
Much diverted with the girls and Donaldson's wife and daughter. 
Then called at Hayes' and Cramer's and went to George Clark's- 
9th. Clingan brought home Mr. Hood and Reverend H. R. Wilson, 
Bellefonte ; the latter a very facetious man. Comet still in view. 
13th. Clerked at the election at Billmyer's. Tommy stole a bag 
string to cure Trimmer's ancle. 20th. Review at Derrstown. Seve- 
ral bottles in the evening. George stole a bag string for another 
horse. 31st. My horse broke his bridle at Robert's tavern, Milton. 
Staid and slept with old Peter Vincent. 

Sunday, November i. Mr. Hood got a letter, stating that the 
horse had ran away with his wife and Ann Dale, broke the chair, 
and Mrs. Hood's leg. [This accident happened near Harrisburg. 



1807.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 3(>3 



They were going to Chester county on a visit. Mrs. Hood was a Has- 
let, from that county.] 2d. Tommy took sixty-eight bushels corn to 
deGruchy's, at Northumberland. 7th. Mr. Hood and James Dale set 
off in a boat to bring Mrs. Hood home. nth. Mrs. Hood arrived at 
Derrstown. Mr. Wilson brought her home on a sled. Annie Dale 
much hurt, too. [My uncle, Doctor W. I. Wilson, says he recollects 
well of riding the horses attached to the sled which brought Mrs. 
Hood to her home from the river.] 1 5th. Chngan's youngsters, Aunt 
Dale's youngsters went with Mr. Haslet to visit at Senator Maclay's. 
December 9. Clingan butchering. George Weikel assisting 
Beau Barber here. Mr. Haslet and Mr. Hood helping butcher, 
loth. George at a tramping frolic at Uncle Clark's, nth. Beaux 
Kremer, Haslet, Barber here. " Where the carcase is, thither will 
the eagles gather together." 12th. Billy Thompson died. 20th. 
Mr. Hood preached from 11 Timothy, i : 10. The people seemed too 
lazy to leave the meeting-house. There is a stove in it now. 21st. 
Girls up at Mrs. Linn's last night. George, Nancy, Haslet, Sam 
Maclay, Dale, &c. 24th. Shooting match at Zerbe's, [now John 
Grove's.] 31st. Billy Forster and citizen Kremer at Chngan's. 
George fired off guns at midnight. 

The Leading Circuit Lawyers, by George A. Snyder. 

At this time, the courts of Northumberland, Lycoming, and Lu- 
zerne were attended by the lawyers of Lancaster, York, Harrisburg, 
and Carlisle. From Lancaster came Charles Smith, one of the 
ablest jurists of Pennsylvania. Mr. Hopkins also came, but seldom. 
Bowie^ was the only one I can remember from York. Thomas 
Duncan and David Watts, from Carlisle. From Harrisburg came 
George Fisher, Thomas Elder, William Irwin, and others. Each 
lawyer kept his saddle-horse.- The Lancaster, York, and Carlisle 
lawyers met at Harrisburg ; when that court terminated, they came 
to Sunbury ; then to Williamsport and Wilkesbarre. As their num- 
bers were recruited at each county town, they formed a considerable 
troop of cavalry on entering the two last places. 

The nature and character of the law business were then different 
from what they are at present. Almost all the important actions 

' Ralph Bowie, Esquire, died at York, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1816. He is said 
to have been an elegant lawyer. — Linn. 



364 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1807. 

were ejectments upon disputed original titles. The number of wit- 
nesses was very great, the means of traveling scanty, the district 
large, so that much allowance had to be made for failure of attend- 
ance. The causes were, therefore, frequently continued, so that 
they usually stood upon the trial list several years before they could 
be acted upon. This, added to the dilatory habits always prevalent 
in frontier settlements, produced that leisurely, time-wasting habit 
of doing business which, until lately, characterized our county courts. 
The lawyers of this district seldom undertook an important cause 
without calling in the aid of Duncan, Watts, Fisher, or some other 
able practitioner. 

Duncan was a small man, with keen looking gray eyes, and a 
sharp, unmusical voice. His knowledge of law was more extensive 
and accurate than that of any of his compeers, and he possessed 
great tact in the trial of a cause, almost always managing to put his 
opponents, though they were plaintiffs, on the defensive — an im- 
mense advantage in law as well as in war. My father placed him 
upon the Supreme Bench, where he was considered an important 
acquisition. 

Mr. Watts was a large man, with a powerful voice. His self- 
reliance was great, and of great advantage to him, for his abilities 
were considerable. He contemned authorities, preferring to argue 
his case from first principles, and this he did with much power. He 
was apt to be violent and overbearing, and was in the habit of heap- 
ing abuse upon his opponents. He was a good classical scholar, 
and on that score was susceptible to flattery. He maintained that 
squinting was an infallible mark of dishonesty. He himself squinted, 
though he was not aware of it, and could not be convinced of it by 
others. He spent his money with careless profusion. He died of 
cancer, about the year 182 1. He wa.s the father of Judge Frederick 
Watts, a man of talent and industry, and greatly esteemed for his 
many excellent qualities. 

George Fisher was a large man, of imposing exterior. Inferior 
in ability either to Duncan or Watts, he was still able to make a 
good figure at the bar. His practice was mostly confined to the 
defensive side, as it was dangerous to allow him to collect money. 
He lived to a great age — eighty-four, I believe. 

Charles Hall, of Sunbury, was a good lawyer, and highly esteemed 



1807.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 365 

as a man. He was shrewd, laborious, and very attentive to the 
interests of his chents. He had not, however, the gift of a ready 
speaker, being rather tedious. 

Daniel Smith was the only lawyer of the district who could be 
called eloquent in a high sense. 

Daniel Levy, of Sunbury, outlived all the old lawyers, as they 
were popularly called, except Mr. Bellas. He was a conceited 
man, active as a cat, an insatiable dancer, and a hard fighter. He 
had considerable science as a boxer, and although not large or strong, 
his skill joined to his prodigious activity made him quite formidable. 
His vanity and fondness for dress made him a capital butt, and sub- 
ject of jokes for his fellow-members of the bar. He lived to the age 
of seventy, and a fop to the last. 

[I have dropped Mr. Snyder's strictures on the morals of these 
old legal giants. But that the truth may be told in a general way, 
drinking habits got the better of some of them.] 

Hugh Bellas was the last survivor of the old lawyers. A man of 
singular energy, and the most elastic spirit, I ever knew. He came 
to this country from Ireland, when he was about ten years of age. 
George Bellas, his father, was poor, and unable to educate his children. 
Hugh was bound to Robert Irwin, of Northumberland, to learn the 
mercantile business. Here he found a congenial spirit in Robert 
Christie, the senior clerk. Robert was the son of an English teacher, 
and had been well educated. Store-keeping was not then conducted 
on the go-ahead style of the present, and our clerks, having consid- 
erable leisure at certain periods, devoted themselves to reading and 
study. Mr. Bellas' father was a strict Presbyterian, and had brought 
up his family in the faith of that Church ; but the active and inde- 
pendent mind of Hugh, let him into inquiries, which caused him to 
reject Calvanism, and even to doubt seriously the entire christian 
faith. About this time (1799) he heard much said of three re- 
markable sermons of Doctor Priestly, on "habitual devotion," the 
''danger of bad habits," and the "duty of not living to ourselves." 
Meeting the doctor one day, he expressed a desire to read these 
sermons. "My young friend," replied the doctor, "I judge from 
your opinions on the subject of revelation, that you would not be 
able to appreciate these discourses. Before you undertake them, I 
will, if you please, put a tract into your hands, the reading of which 



366 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1807. 

will, I hope, prepare you for the doctrine of my sermons." The 
seed fell into good ground and brought forth an hundred fold. 

While at Irwin's, Mr. Bellas commenced studying law with Jon- 
athan Walker, afterward Judge Walker. It was about the year 
1803, Mr. Bellas applied for admission, but he met a most formi- 
dable opposition. Every lawyer then at the bar in this district was 
a decided Federalist, and as Mr. Bellas was not only an active and 
influential Democrat, but of the plebeian stock,- the aristocratic gen- 
tlemen objected to his admission, on the ground of his not having 
studied actually in the office of Mr. Walker, but in a store, and while 
conducting a business of another character. 

Whether the court decided against him, or he was induced by the 
clamor of his opponents to suspend application, I am unable to say. 
This happened during the session of the court at Bellefonte. Re- 
turning to Northumberland, and stating the case to Mr. Walker, the 
latter advised him to employ counsel in his behalf, and renew his 
application at Sunbury. Mr. Bellas accordingly retained Daniel 
Smith, who brought his case before the court, and advocated it so 
ably that an examination was ordered, and Charles Hall, the most 
determined of his opponents, appointed one of his examiners. The 
examination was held in open court, and was most rigorous. Mr. 
Hall came prepared with a sheet of written questions ; many of them 
mere trials of memory. Such as the date of certain statutes of Queen 
Elizabeth. Mr. Bellas' memory was, however, never at fault. The 
judge perceiving that he had no ordinary candidate before him, was 
highly gratified. At one stage the judge asked him what is criminal 
law? Mr. Bellas, after a moment's hesitation, commenced: Law is 
a rule of action. Here the judge interrupted him in his quick, 
nervous way, with " I don't want a general definition of law, but of 
criminal law." Criminal law, resumed Mr. Bellas, is a rule of action 
defining and prohibiting crime, and prescribing due punishment. 
That will do, remarked the judge, I only asked the question in order 
to try your judgment. There is no definition of criminal law in the 
books. The three hours' ordeal passed. Mr. Hall most grudgingly 
admitted that the young man had passed a satisfactory examination, 
and recommended his admission to the bar. 

My father, [afterward Governor Snyder,] who was at the time 
county treasurer, witnessed the whole proceedings, and resolved to 



1807.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 367 

patronize the young lawyer. He accordingly employed him in the 
memorable Isle of Que case, which terminated in his favor, after 
more than twenty years litigation. 

Hugh Bellas, Esquire, died October 26, 1863, aged eighty-three 
and a half years. 

Marriages. 

May II, Peter Kreechbaum with Elizabeth Davis, in presence 
of his father Peter, and brother George. 

June 21, Martin Billmyer with Margaret Himmelrich, in pres- 
ence of her parents, George Billmyer and wife, Stephen Frantz and 
wife, George Withington, &c. 

November 13, George Kreechbaum with Polly Keller, daughter 
of George Keller, now in Sciota. 

December 10, By Reverend Henry R. Wilson, Thomas Burn- 
side, Esquire, to Miss Mary Fleming, of Bellefonte. 

December 26, John Brobst with Lydia Marriner. Witnesses, 
Sophia Nixon, Thomas Poak, John Conser, &c. 

Deaihs. 

February 15, Adam Young. 

March 30, John Aurand, of East Buffalo. He was born in Dil- 
lenberg, Germany, February 5, 17253 was, therefore, eighty-two 
years six months three weeks and four days old. His grave, in 
the Dreisbach yard, is unmarked, and possibly cannot be identi- 
fied. His wife, Mary Elizabeth, died before him. His children 
were : Henry, who lived and died in Snyder county ; Peter and 
Jacob, lived in Reading; Daniel, in Sunbury; Reverend Dietrich, 
who died in Huntingdon county ; George Aurand, Esquire, died 
July 18, 1850, buried in the Hassinger grave-yard, near Middle- 
burg, (father of Jacob Aurand, Esquire, of Middleburg;) Eliza- 
beth, intermarried with Francis Zeller ; John, who died soon after, 
(his widow Catherine married Henry Rhiem;) Abraham; Mary, 
married to John Wolfe. His descendants are, like the sands of the 
sea, innumerable, scattered all through New York, Ohio, Illinois ; 
and the family Bible, written for by the agent in New York, which 
will secure a large fortune to the family, can,'be produced by Jacob 
Aurand, Esquire, of Middleburg. 



3(>S 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1807. 



September t6, Florence, wife of Colonel John Clarke, aged sev- 
enty-six. 

William Thompson, of White Deer township, in the seventieth 
year of his age. His remains were interred in the Presbyterian 
burial ground, in Derrstown, followed by a numerous assemblage of 
friends and relations. He left a widow, Jane, who died in Lewis- 
burg. Daughter, Ruth; granddaughter, Nancy T. Reznor; son, 
James. ^ 

George Wilt, of West Buffalo, died in the spring. Widow, Cath- 
erine. Children : Elizabeth, Adam, George, Barbara, and Mary. 

Daniel Franklin, inn-keeper, died in September. 

Wilham McKim, of Buffalo. Robert McKim. 

Reverend John Hoge. Children: Ebenezer, Samuel, David, 
Jonathan D., Elizabeth Brice, Mary Redrick, Priscilla Bennett. 

David Katherman, West Buffalo. Children : Barbara, George, 
Jacob. 

Lewis Frantz. Children : Stephen, John, Jacob, Philip, Cathe- 
rine, George, Margaret. 

William Steele, of Buffalo. 

' Keverend James Thompson studied theology under Mr. Hood. Licensed, 1817. 
April 17, 1819, installed pastor of Shaver's Creek and Alexandria churches. Died 
October 8, 1830. Left a ■widow, Eliza, (Stewart,) one son, and two daughters. — See 
Gxbs'>n''s History of the Huntingdon Presbytery. 




i8o8. 




The First Baptist CnrRCH Organized —Political Affairs — Simon Sny- 
der Elected G-overnor — Death of John Brady, (Sheriff,) and No- 
tices OF his Family. 

'EMBER of Congress, George Smith. Members of As- 
sembly, elected in October, John Murray, Leonard 
Rupert, Frederick Evans, and Andrew Albright. Clerk 
of the Middle District of the Supreme Court, Johii L. 
Finney. County Commissioner elect, Andrew McClenachan. Amos 
Ellmaker, Deputy Attorney General for Dauphin and Northumber- 
land. By the act of 21st March, Northumberland county was enti- 
tled to four members of the House, and, with Luzerne, to two 
members of the Senate. 

January 23, the congressional caucus nominated James Madison 
for President and George Clinton for Vice. 

Under date March 16, the Argus notices a meeting of the Repub- 
lican members of the Legislature, which declared unanimously for 
Simon Snyder, for Governor. The Federalists, it says, favor James 
Ross. The Quids, John Spayd. Democratic Presidential electors : 
William Wilson, Robert Giffen, Jacob Hostetter. 

29th March, Adam Wilt commissioned justice. May 15, Rev- 
erend John Dietrich Adams, of the Reformed Church, called to the 
Middle Creek, Beaver Dam, &c., churches. He accepted, and 
seems to have served until 181 2, when he was excommunicated. 
Tradition says love for strong drink was his ruin. Postmaster at 
Mifflinburg, Thomas Youngman. During this year and the next, 
the Reverend Jacob Diffenbach, of the Reformed Church, lived in 

24 36() 



370 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1808. 

Mifflinburg, preached there, and at times in Brush valley and Selins- 
grove. He married a Miss Lydia Hughes, of Selinsgrove, subse- 
quently removed to Espy town, and died there in 1825. One of his 
children, Samuel Dieffenbach, resides near Selinsgrove, Snyder 
county. 30th September, George Clark commissioned justice. 
White Deer. James McClellan, Esquire, taught school at Cham- 
berlin's mill. 

Additional Residents in East Buffalo. — Baldy, Benjamin ; Beard, 
Christian, blacksmith ; Brewer, John ; Bossier, John ; Christ, Adam, 
junior ; Christ, Henry ; Dentler, John ; Deratt, Daniel, both on 
Mathias Macpherson's place ; George, John ; Heiser, Frederick ; 
Jackson, Robert, (colored;) Kitchen, John; Kline, Jacob; Mc- 
Curdy, Daniel, at James Dale's ; Searfoss, George ; Shields, Wil- 
liam ; Snook, Martin, (Jenkins;) Snook, Peter, (Jenkins ;) Snyder, 
Daniel, blacksmith ; Taylor, Robert. 

Lewisburg — Billman, Henry ; Clark, George ; Friedly, John ; Guy, 
Thomas ; Horning, Conrad ; Kremer, George, store in Chamberlin's 
building; Martin, John, carpenter; Myers, Peter; Rees, Daniel, 
inn-keeper ; Sergeant, John, nailor ; Sitgreaves, Charles, saddler ; 
Stillwell, Joseph, school-teacher ; Stroub, Michael, weaver ; Wagner, 
Henry. 

N'ew Berlin — Estrich, Christian, merchant ; Feather, Jacob, hat- 
ter ; Frantz, William ; Fought, George ; Lehman, Thomas, school- 
teacher ; McCullough, William ; Maurer, Adam ; Pontius, Henry, 
junior, carpenter ; Smith, Peter, gunsmith ; Springer, Henry, chair- 
maker ; Winter, Daniel, inn-keeper. 

White Deer — Awl, Samuel and John, junior; Ferris, Joseph, on 
William Clingan's place ; Heckle, George ; Heckle, Simon ; Hunt- 
ingdon, Abraham ; Kline, Charles, on Ranck's place ; Thomas, 
Arthur, miller. 

West Buffalo — Charles, John ; Elert, Widow ; Elder, John ; 
Geddes, Samuel ; Jodon, James ; Komp, Adam ; Kline, Jacob ; 
Miller, Peter ; Shaup, Henry. 

Mifflinburg — Clark, Widow Sarah ; Cronmiller, Martin, black- 
smith ; Grove, Andrew, blacksmith ; Hofferd, John, taxed with 
grist and saw-mill, late Christopher Johnson's, on Rapid run, after 
whose death it passed into the hands of John Reish ; Lane, William, 
hatter ; Yearick, Henry. 



1808.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 371 

Enumeration of the Taxable Inhabitants of the different Town- 
ships of Biffalo Valley — Buffalo East, four hundred and forty-seven, 
and one slave \ Buffalo West, three hundred and seventy-four ; White 
Deer, two hundred and five, and one slave ; Washington, eighty-one, 
and one slave. 

f'lrsi Baptist Church. 

The first regular Baptist church in what is now Union county, 
was raised under the labors of Thomas Smiley, in Washington (now 
Gregg) township, and was recognized by sister churches October 23, 
1808. Elder Smiley remained its pastor until his death, in 1832. 
He was succeeded by George Spratt, M. D., 1 833-1 834; his son, 
George M. Spratt, D. D., 1835-1839 ; William S. Hall, 1 840-1 843 ; 
John Edminster, 1843-1847; William T. Bunker, 1849-1853; Pro- 
fessor Robert Lowry, 1854; George Frear, D. D., 1855; Joshua 
Kelly, 1857-1858; W. R. McNeal, 1859 ; Samuel W. Ziegler, i860; 
J. Green Miles, 1861-1865 ; George W. Snyder, 1867 ; and J. Green 
Miles since 1869. — O. JV. Worden. 

Political. 

Northumberland and Luzerne composed the senatorial district. 
Centre, Lycoming and Northumberland composed the congressional 
district. General Daniel Montgomery declined a re-election. At the 
Democratic-Republican convention, held at Sunbury, on the 28th 
of June, the delegates from Buffalo were Samuel Maclay and General 
C. Baldy ; West Buffalo, John Wilson and Thomas Youngman ; 
Penn's, Frederick Evans and Philip Moore; White Deer, Andrew 
McClenachan and William Chamberlin. 

The nominating convention was held at Derrstown, on the 20th 
of August. Thirty-seven delegates from twenty townships. General 
Robert Giffen was elected president ; Matthew Huston, secretary. 
Simon Snyder was unanimously nominated for Governor ; George 
Smith, of Lycoming, for Congress ; Nathan Palmer, of Luzerne, for 
State Senator; John Murray, Andrew Albright, Leonard Rupert, 
and Frederick Evans, for Assembly. 

The Federal leaders of that day were General William Wilson, 



372 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1808. 

Charles Hall, Esquire, Captain Christian Brobst, William Mears, 
Samuel Miles, Esquire, John Buyers, &c. The canvass for Governor 
this year was exceedingly bitter. Among other stories, was that the 
Honorable Samuel Maclay had expressed himself in favor of James 
Ross for Governor, at William McAllister's, in Juniata county, when 
he and the Honorable Daniel Montgomery were on their return from 
Congress ; that Simon Snyder had said in the presence of one George 
Church, who made affidavit to that effect, that no poor man ought to 
have the right of voting at an election ; that he had voted for a bill 
to fine Mennonists and Quakers ^lo for not attending militia train- 
ings ; that he intended, or favored, dividing the property of the rich 
among the poor. The Snyder men were accused of suing the Ross- 
ites for debts. Jared Irwin, the sheriff, certifies that Simon Snyder 
has not issued an execution for twelve months ; Judge Cooper, that 
Simon Snyder did not behave improperly in handing a paper to the 
judge, &c. James Ross was declared to be a man of mercenary and 
avaricious disposition ; accused of blasphemy and mockery of religion ; 
said to be "the candidate of the nabobs and lawyers; that while 
member of the United States Senate, he advocated the wresting of 
New Orleans from the Spaniards by force, instead of acquiring it 
by treaty. During the reign of terror, (Adams' administration,) his 
violence for its measures secured him the Federal patronage." All 
manner of tricks were resorted to. 

Andrew Albright and Robert Smith were nominated by the Fed- 
eral meeting, at Milton, for Assembly, although known to be Dem- 
ocrats, in favor of Jefferson and his embargo. Both came out in the 
Argus, disclaiming the nomination. 

As early as this year, Andrew C. Huston, with John Frick and 
others, issue an address, as representatives of the young men of North- 
umberland county, in favor of Simon Snyder. Judge Thomas Cooper, 
in a communication, vindicates the private character of Simon Sny- 
der, although he did not feel at liberty to vote for either Simon 
Snyder or James Ross. 



1808.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



373 



OCTOBER ELECTION. 



Buffalo, . . 
West Buffalo, 
Berlin, . . . 
Svvinelbrd's, . 
Milton, . . 
Selinsgrove, . 
MifSinburg, . 
Beaver, . . 



SNYDER. 


ROSS. 


311 


68 


300 


70 


209 


10 


166 


8 


467 


127 


237 


28 


49 


32 


138 


8 



Snyder's majority in the county, over both, was 2,927. Colonel 
John Bull was the Federal candidate against Colonel George Smith, 
for Congress. Colonel John Kelly, against Nathan Palmer, for 
Senate. For Assembly, the Federal candidates were Sol Markley, 
Robert Barber, Esquire, Abraham Miller, and Thomas Wallace. 
Henry Musser was elected commissioner, over Theodore Kiehl and 
James Smith. For presidential electors on the Democratic-Repub- 
lican and Whig side — for the party recognize all three names — were 
William Montgomery and Robert Giffen. The Federalists are called 
the Tories. John Boyd was the Federal candidate for elector. 
Vote, 2,793 to 221. 

Marriages. 

March 22, John Freedly with Elizabeth Lehman, by H. Spyker, 
in presence of Daniel Nyhart, her brother-in-law, &c. 

May 4, Peter Myers to Sophia Nixon, by same, in the presence 
of her step-father, James Marriner, and her mother, Peter Spyker, 
George Graham, Thomas Poak, Margaret Graham, Betsy Smith, 
Lydia Pross, &c. 

May 1 7, by the same, Henry Zerbe with Susanna Heckel. Wit- 
nesses : Adam Wertz, Peter Leonard, John Snyder, &c. 

July 5, Peter Brown with Catherine Kantz, in presence of her 
brother, Peter Kantz, brother-in-law, John Hartman. 

March 24, by Reverend T. Hood, William Nesbit, of Chilhsqua- 
que, to Nancy Musser, of East Buffalo. 

November 29, George Freedly with Catherine Frantz, by H. Spy- 
ker, Esquire, in presence of Andrew Billmyer and wife, George 
Billmyer and wife, John Frantz, Jacob Frantz, Peggy Librunen, &c. 



374 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1808. 



Deaths. 

Samuel Dunning and James McCorley, White Deer. 

Neal Madden, father of the late James Madden, Esquire, West 
Buffalo. 

17th May, Adam Christ, aged sixty-six. Left widow, Elizabeth. 
Children : Henry, Ehzabeth, Eve, married to John Snook. 

Elizabeth Earne, Buffalo. (Her daughter married Jacob Moore.) 
Children: John, Anna M., Balisa, and Susanna. 

Joseph U,ltz, of West Buffalo. 

John Aurand, junior. East Buffalo. 

James Boveard, East Buffalo, soldier of the Revolution. Enlisted, 
1776, as private in Captain David Kilgore's company, eighth Penn- 
sylvania, and served three years. His family as follows : Children : 
Hannah, Robert, Alexander, Mary, married to Robert McBride, 
Jane, to Doctor James Charleton, , to John Steans. 

Daniel Metzgar, hotel-keeper at Lewisburg. His widow, Eve, 
afterwards married to Colonel Christopher Baldy. 

Saturday, 30th January, Mrs. Annie McBeth, of White Deer, 
formerly of Cumberland county, buried at Buffalo Cross -Roads. 
Her ancestors fled from Scotland on account of religious persecution. 
They were of the first settlers at Brandywine, in Chester county. 
She was twice married, first to John Fleming, and afterwards to An- 
drew McBeth ; had four children by her first, and five by her last 
husband. One of her sons fell at Long Island. — Argus. 

27th July, Susanna Baldy, consort of General C. Baldy, aged 
fifty two. A faithful observance of all the relative duties of wife, 
mother, and friend, marked the conduct of this truly excellent wo- 
man. — Argus, T^d August. 

December 10, at Milton, John Brady, inn-keeper, and former 
sheriff of Northumberland county, aged forty-eight. He is buried in 
the cemetery at Lewisburg. His wife, Jane, survived him twenty 
years, and is buried in the same grave. A mural monument, covered 
with a heavy marble slab, marks their grave and that of Mary Brady, 
widow of Captain John Brady. 

John Brady's children were : Lieutenant Samuel Brady, born 2 2d 
February, 1793. At the commencement of the war of 1812, he 
served as a volunteer, under Governor Edwards, in a campaign 



1808.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 375 

against the Indians. Tliey had one battle, defeating tlie Indians. 
Shortly afterwards, he received a commission as ensign in the twenty- 
second United States regiment, commanded by his micle, General 
Hugh Brady, and served in the unfortunate campaign under Gen- 
eral Wilkinson. In the summer of 181 4 he was attached to General 
Brown's army, on the Niagara frontier. He was in the bloody battle 
of Lundy's Lane ; a second lieutenant in the sortie from Fort Erie. 
He was the only platoon officer of his regiment that was not either 
killed or wounded in the former battle, and Major Arrowsmith was 
the only field-officer of General Scott's brigade that was left on 
horseback; See his letter to Captain B. Vincent, under date of 181 4. 

After peace was proclaimed. Lieutenant Brady entered into an 
arrangement with Captain John Culbertson, a brother officer, to go 
on a trading expedition to the Rocky Mountains, supposing that, 
upon the reduction of the army, he would not be retained in the 
service. He was retained, however ; but thinking he could not, in 
honor, break his engagement with the captain, he resigned. The 
Government declined to accept his, resignation, and sent him a,n 
unlimited furlough. His health, however, failed him, and he was 
advised to winter in the South. He went to New Orleans, accom- 
panied by his friend. Lieutenant Colonel Trimble, of Ohio, and 
died there on the 17th of February, 1816, not quite twenty-three 
years of age. He was six feet five, and a remarkably fine looking 
man. His disease was hurried on by exposure in the Niagara cam- 
paigns, when he should have been in the hospital, instead of the field. 
In the Sunbury Times of that year, there is an eloquent obituary, 
by his friend, Colonel Trimble, in which he says : "In Lieutenant 
Brady's death, the country has lost an intelligent and gallant officer, 
and myself a firm and distinterested friend." 

William Perry Brady, his brother, was born i6th February, 1795. 
He worked for a while at his trade — cabinet making — in Aarons- 
burg. In 1813 he entered the army as private. His regiment was 
at Erie when Perry was fitting out his fleet. The commodore, not 
having a sufficient number of regular marines, called for volun- 
teers. William was the first who volunteered. Before Perry sailed, 
Colonel Hugh Brady came to Erie, and through his influence. Perry 
appointed him a purser's steward. He was attached to one of the 
small vessels, and was in the battle of the loth of September. His 



3y6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1808. 

vessel had to be abandoned, and he was the last man to leave his 
gun. His shirt sleeves were shot away. He took great pride in 
the old shirt, and often showed it to his friends in after years. After 
the battle, and the return of the fleet to Erie, William and two of 
his Centre county friends, waited on the commodore. He granted 
them their discharges, and advised them to return home and settle 
in civil life, remarking that they had already rendered important 
service to their country. William took his advice, returned to 
Aaronsburg, and in a short time married Rachel Mussina, of that 
place. In 1846, he was elected assistant sergeant-at-arms of the 
Pennsylvania Senate, which place he retained until his death, at 
Harrisburg, on the 4th of April, 1864. Every onC' having business 
in Harrisburg in the last twenty years, will recollect the genial com- 
panionship of William P. Brady. He survived all his children, 
except one son, who died about one year after his father. 

Jasper Ewing Brady, Esquire, the fourth son, was born March 4, 
1797. He first learned the trade of hatter, and, after traveling from 
place to place for two or three years, he settled in Franklin county, 
Pennsylvania. He there abandoned his trade, and taught school 
several years, meanwhile studying law. He was admitted at Cham- 
bersburg in 1826 or 1827, and there commenced practice. In 1843 
he was elected to the Assembly, and re-elected in 1844. During the 
first session, although he represented an aati-improvement county, 
he ofl"ered an amendment to the bill to reduce the State tax provid- 
ing for the assessment of a three-mill tax, which redeemed the credit 
of the State. He was treasurer of Franklin county for three years. 
In 1846 he was elected to Congress, beating Honorable Samuel Hep- 
burn some eight hundred votes. He was, however, defeated in 1848, 
by Honorable James X. McLanahan. The Whig loss in the Carlisle 
district was some two hundred votes. Mr. Brady was beaten only 
one hundred and sixty-seven votes. In September, 1849, ^^ removed 
to Pittsburgh, and practiced law very successfully until 1861, when 
he was appointed to a responsible position in the paymasters' depart- 
ment at Washington. He was removed in July, 1869, by General 
Rawlings, then Secretary of War. He then resumed the practice of 
law at Washington, where he died. 

John Brady, the third, died several years ago. James, the young- 



1808.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ^jj 

est, died in Franklin county, in 1829. He was a man of fine intel- 
lect, and was thought to be the most talented of the family. 

Of the daughters of Sheriff John Brady, Mary married William 
Piatt, uncle of Judge Piatt, of Brady township, Lycoming county ; 
Hannah married Judge Piatt ; Charlotte married H. C. Piatt ; Jane 
married Roland Stoughton ; her descendants, Mrs. Lyndall's chil- 
dren, still hve in Lewisburg ; Nancy married George B. Eckert, of 
Lewisburg. 

I am indebted to O. N. Worden, late of the Lewisburg Chronicle, 
for the following narrative he took down at the time. He says : In 
June, 1857, I took the following notes of a conversation 1 had with 
Mrs. Mary Brady Piatt, aged seventy-two, born in 1785 : 

"My father was a brother of Sam Brady, the Indian fighter. I 
saw him once. He was then on a visit to my father's, at Sunbury. 
I went with them over to Northumberland. On the way over, my 
father asked Sam if he could jump as well as ever ? He said he could 
not, but coming to a high fence in a few minutes, he sprung clear 
over it, with but little effort. ' I never could do that,' said my father. 
' You could, if obliged to,' said Sam. 

" Sam killed three Indians after peace was declared, and a reward 
of ^300 was offered for his apprehension. Shortly after, he was sit- 
ting with a tavern-keeper, in West Virginia, when two strangers, 
Virginians, rode up, alighted, and asked for horse feed and dinner. 
They laid their pistols upon a table, near which sat Sam, rolling his 
rifle upon his knees. In the course of conversation with the land- 
lord, they found out that he knew Brady, and that he lived in that 
region, and was very popular. They told the laiidlord that they had 
come to arrest him, and if he gave them assistance, they would share 
the reward with him. The landlord said they could never take him, 
nor could any one take him alive. They declared they could. ' I 
am Sam Brady,' said the man at the table. They were startled. They 
looked at him for a minute, and, estimating his power, waived the 
attempt. After dinner, they went to the table to get their pistols. 
Brady said they could not have those pistols, nor could the landlord's 
entreaty or their threats prevail. ' Go back to your homes, and tell 
them Sam Brady took your pistols,' was all the answer he made. He 
afterwards gave their pistols to his sons. 

" After awhile he delivered himself up for trial at Pittsburgh. He 



378 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1809. 



was defended by James Ross. Brady laid the scalps on the bar. ' There 
they are ; I killed them.' A great many women attended this trial, 
or rather men in women's clothes, ready to rescue him, if convicted; 
but there was no occasion for their intervention." 

Mrs. Piatt, like her brother, the late William Perry Brady, re- 
mained a Federalist to the last. She said when Washington was 
burned, through the inefficiency of a granny President, her blood 
boiled, and she longed to go, that she might shoot at least one 
British invader. 



1809. 




Officials — Residents — Roan's Journal — Election Return — Marriages 

AND Deaths. 

OVERNOR, Simon Snyder. Surveyor General, Andrew 
Porter, appointed April 4, vice Samuel Cochran. Dep- 
uty Attorney General, E. G. Bradford, appointed Jan- 
uary 19. Prothonotary, &c., Hugh Bellas, commissioned 
January 3. Register and Recorder, John Frick, commissioned Jan- 
uary 18. Sheriff, Daniel Lebo, commissioned October 24. Coro- 
ner, Joseph Lorentz, re-commissioned October 24. County Com- 
missioner elect, Henry Masser. Justices commissioned : Penn's, 
Joseph Fiihrer, February 28 ; Mahantango, Michael Rathfon and 
Philip Burchart, the same day. Postmaster at Lewisburg, William 
Hayes. 

Jamjs Moore, senior, built the bridge at the mouth of Buffalo 
creek. 

Tobias Lehman's property divided. His children were : Henry, 
Barbara, married to George Baily, Elizabeth, married to John 
Freedly, Margaret Spidler, Catherine, married to Daniel Nyhart, 



i809.j ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



379 



Mary, married to John Browa, Freeily took the mills and four 
acres; John Brown, one hundred and thirty-two acres one hundred 
and one perches ; and Nyhart the tract next Derr's, fifty-five acres 
one hundred and twenty-six perches. 

Reverend John G. Heim became pastor of the Lutherans, at Dreis- 
bach's church, where he remained until 1831. 

East Buffalo Additional Residents — Aurand, Abraham ; Badger, 
Joseph, tailor; Boveard, Robert; Brown, Peter, stiller; Clinger, 
Adam; Gross, Mathias; Hauck, Andrew; Herbst, Henry; Jar- 
man, Jacob ; Johnston, John, colored ; Knittle, Adam, shoe-maker ; 
Shamp, Jesse; Sheckler, Martin, miller; Thompson, Samuel; 
Thompson, Moses ; Updyke, Isaac ; Wise, Henry, shoe-maker ; Ze- 
luff, David. 

Lewis bur g—^3X^\V\\\, Doctor Ethan ; Espy, John ; Nyhar.t, Dan- 
iel ; Smith, Robert. 

White Z)„-^r— Bellas, James ; Davis, John, school-teacher ; Lan- 
dis, Jacob, shoe-maker ; Smith, William Walker ; Sypher, Jacob. 

West Buffalo — Anthony, Henry ; Bergstresser, John ; Bruner, 
John; Caldwell, William; Hayes, John; Keeply, John; Koons, 
•Peter ; Linn, Isaac ; Yerger, John. 

Mifflinburg—Ku^lQ, Conrad; Haslet, John; Larabee, Widow; 
Manly, John; Millhouse, Nicholas; Smelker, Godfrey, tavern; 
Staple, Conrad; Wolf, Andrew; Young, Christian. 

Roan's Journal. 

14th January. Scholars at Mr. Hood's had a pubhc exhibition of 
their speaking abilities. Elder Brown, Honorable George Kremer, 
and others attended. Sunday 29th. Mr. Hood's text, John xiv : 6 v. 
Thirty-six sleds and sleighs at meeting. 

■ February 9. Roan, Sally, Becky, and Bob Clark, and John Eaker 
came and staid all night. Sunday, 12th. Saw a woman putting a 
hippen to her child during church. Read twenty-two chapters, 
verse about, to-night. 15th. Maclays and their connections spent 
the day at Clingan's. i6th. George and Davy Reznor went to 
Easton, with grain, in sleds. They returned on the 22d. 27th. 
Billy Clark, Uncle Giddy, Wilson's, &c., at Aunt Dale's, in all 
seventeen, for supper. Had two turkeys. 



38o ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1809. 

March i. The young folks at Roan McClure's. Turkey for sup- 
per, and plenty of cider and apples. 3d. Debate at Mr. Hood's 
school-house. Question: " Is a lawyer a promoter of justice?" 
12th, Sunday. No singing at meeting, as people cannot agree about 
the psalms and music. 13th. Black Grace free to-day, and left us. 
Seven Methodists dined at Clingan's to-day. 15 th. Met Doctor 
Baldwin at Lewisburg to-day. He is a Democrat, full of ostenta- 
tion. 1 8th. Mr. McClure's family, Richard Fruit and wife, Judge 
Wilson and wife, came to my school to-day to hear the boys speak. 
Wednesday, 2 2d. John Linn died last night. 23d. Went to John 
Linn's funeral. Stopped at Baldy's, and wrote a piece on his death 
for both papers at Northumberland. 

April 8. Saw a clegyman, a Congressman, six esquires, and a 
constable at Billy Poak's to-day. River very high. Congressman 
Smith bought a silk shawl at Kremer's for Betsey Smith. i8th. 
Planted the locusts at Clingan's ; got them down at Billy Clark's. 
Eight ministers here, Mr. Wilson of Bellefonte, Mr. Bard, &c. 19th. 
Planted some Lombardys. Presbytery in session. 2 2d. At North- 
umberland; called at Seidel's, Jones', Taggart's, 'Priestly's, Welker's, 
Irwin's, Huston's, and Bonham's. Spent the evening at Reverend 
Isaac Grier's. He is a very friendly man. I heard Isaiah Linn was 
buried to-day. 

May 7th. Clingan came home from Lancaster. He had news of 
General Bright's trial, Snyder's ignorance, foreign decrees revoked. 
He brought the girls fashionable ear-rings. Tommy got fifty shad, 
at Hoffman's, sent down from Lawson's. nth. Went to the review 
at Voneida's, [near Samuel Maclay's.] Five hundred and fifty men 
in line, and a great many spectators. Any number of studs. 13th. 
A good foot-way made over the creek, at my instigation. Got the 
slabs in Derrstown. Doctor Beyer and Dan Rees each gave a 
bottle of whisky. 17th. Jimmy Thompson building a barn on the 
Hafer place, for Clingan. 20th. Josiah Cander called, with pro- 
posals for an astronomical wheel. I called at Esquire Clark's, 
Captain Gray's ; then went to Derrstown, at Rees', Hayes', Poak's, 
Black's, and Stillwell's. Saw crazy John Maclay at Metzgar's. I 
and Sam Awl went to look after him. Called at Baldy's, then at 
Captain Robinson's for shirting, and at Anderson's for lasts. 25th. 
John Cochran, [surveyor general,] wife, and two sons at Clingan's, 



1809.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 381 

with Mrs. Thompson. 29th. Violent storm last night ; blew down 
trees, and took the roof off several barns and houses. 

3d June. Went to Centre county, for balm of Gilead for Roan 
Clark, who is sick. Fed at Wilt's, [Narrows.] Aaronsburg, at three. 
Left with Evans Miles, and came to George Wood's. Had psalm- 
singing, the old way, and prayers. He is a very religious man. 
4th. Called at Kern's. Stopped at Benner's, (old fort.) Then to 
Ludwig Reily's, on Hasting's place, where I got some leaves and 
branches. Stopped at Barber's tavern, and back to Baker's — twenty- 
four miles — a good Sabbath-day's journey. 5th. Left Aaronsburg 
with John Forster. At eleven fed at Wilt's, and at Youngman's at 
five. Stopped at Baldy's, with Holmes and Kimmell. 7th. Raising 
at Hafer's ; sixty-eight feet by thirty wide, forty-two rounds high. 
There were seventy people there. Finished before night, and then 
had a sumptuous .entertainment. 12th. Called to see General Baldy 
and lady, (married last night to Eve Metzgar.) 13th. Long John 
Maclay called. He is from Genessee. 20th. Anne Roan Laird here 
to-night, getting a dress for her name. 23d. William Patterson 
here from Lewistowh. A social man and great talker. 28th. Called 
at Lawyer Hall's, with Billmyer. Dined at Lebo's, with Lawshe. 
Snyder lost his suit with Voneida. Judge Yeates called to-night. 
Asked me how I could live honest, and be single. 

July I. Called at Grier's, Shannon's, and Irwin's. Sent a snuff- 
box to Mrs. Robert Lyon. Had business at Priestly' s with Rees 
and Bonham. Met John Hayes at Jones'. 6th. Flavel bit by a snake. 
Indigo extracted the poison. 13th. Jacob Zerbe married to Miss 
Ferris. Mr. Hood called on the way home, and craddled all after- 
noon. He is very jocose, and good company. 2 2d. Went to 
Giddy Smith's, and read a play; then crossed the creek to Hudson's. 
[Cameron's place now.] 30th. Ensign Seeley and others, from 
Sunbury, at meeting to-day. Clingan came home by Derrstown, to 
attend christening of Graham's children. 31st. I am forty-nine 
years old to-day. 

August I. Clingan had six hundred dozen on the Hafer place, 
one thousand at home, and not a quart of whisky drank in all hay- 
ing and harvesting. 2d. James Dougal commenced at the Latin 
school. 3d. Fishing with Mr. Hood. 8th. Mrs. Nevius had a young 
son. 9th. Mr. Potter's son came to the Latin school at Mr. Hood's. 



j82 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1809. 

[W. W. Potter, Esquire.] 14th. Mr. Hood gave us Caul Kail pet, 
II Peter, i : 5, 6, 7. Commenced to rain as the sermon closed, and 
we were kept there two hours. 15 th. Stahl had his barn burned 
with lightning, yesterday. Two horses killed. i6th. At Derrs- 
town. Went with Cremer to Methodist meeting. Hamer squeezing 
Nancy McDonald behind the stove. Returned and slept with Kre- 
mer. 23d. Jamy Wilson hauled the stuff for the fence at my school- 
house, and Cherry put it up. Sent Joseph Wallis for another bottle 
of whisky for him. 27th. Tommy and sister, James McClellan, 
Ruth Thompson, and others, went to church. At the river, men 
rode over and the women were ferried at Milton. Met a great com- 
pany, and went on to Warrior Run. Mr. Bryson preached in the fore- 
noon. Two hundred and thirty-seven communicants. Mr. Hood 
gave us C. K. p., 11 Peter, i: 5, 6, and 7. Mr. Nesbit asked my 
advice about marrying. 30th. Referees sitting at Sunbury, on suit 
Snyder and Drum. Sat up until midnight, talking with Esquire 
Maus. 31st. Rode out to see John Cooke. Drank cider royal at 
Shriner's. Dined at Reverend Grier's. Gave Ehza a copy of an 
enigma. Carried widow Allison on behind me part of the way 
home. Took a drink at Lawshe's. 

September 2. Rode with McEwen to Alexander Griffey's, on 
electioneering business. Went over the Muncy hills with Umbrella 
Hayes, whom I met at Shannon's. Stopped at Frederick's, in 
Pennsboro'. Met with Mrs. Pott's son-in-law, Fiester, and carried 
him home with me on the horse, three miles. 3d. Went to Shoe- 
maker's mills. Called on Robert Robb. He is eighty two; his wife, 
seventy. Went to Williamsport. Fed at Mrs. Moore's, then to 
Jaysburg, to Mrs. Dunlap's. Called to see John Davis and wife. 
She is a great Baptist. 4th. Went to James Stewart's, from that to 
Esquire Salmon's ; then to Larry's creek, at John Thomas' ; to She- 
rer's, at Jersey Shore. Called to see Lawshe, and then to Morri- 
son's, at Pine creek. 5th. Drank tea at Boyd Smith's. Great ball 
at Wilson's. Judge Cooper and Mrs. deGruchy led off the dance. 
Doctor Baldwin and wife there. 21st. The Governor's carriage in 
Derrstown, with Fred Evans. They brought citizen Kremer home 
in great pomp. 30th. Called on D. Smith, Esquire. He promised 
to attend to my business, but got into company^ and soon got past 
business. 



1809.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 3S3 

October 19. The Governor's son, Prince John of the Isle of 
Que, commenced school with me. 29th. Colonel Chamberlin's wife 
had a young son, his twenty-third. He is above seventy-three years, 
I believe. 

November 3. Clerked at Mrs. Hutchinson's vendue all day. Con- 
tinued over until to-morrow. Went to bed with the cryer and Der- 
rickson. Four ladies and a child slept in a bed in the same 
room. 7th. D. Reasoner married to Miss Hamil. i6th. Clerked at 
Lawshe's vendue. Spent a high old night. Four from Milton, three 
from Northumberland, and the sheriff full of mischief, not drunk. 
Markley cried the sale. 21st. Sunbury court. Peter Smith's wife 
fined one dollar for flogging Miss Adams. Esquire Youngman one 
cent for whipping Doctor Smith. 23d. At Shaffer's for breakfast 
this morning. Billy Covert and two other shoe-makers working at 
Clingan's. [By the custom of that day, shoe-makers and tailors went 
to the houses of their employers.] The shoe-makers made thi'rteen 
pairs shoes, at 4^'. bd. per pair. 30th. At Dale's. Met Colonel S. 
Dale on his way to the Assembly. [He was a son of Samuel Dale, 
deceased, and represented Mercer and Venango.] 

2d December. Went with Roan Clark and James Forster's son, 
John, to Billy Forster's. Met Captain John Wilson there. Had 
eleven sorts of diet for supper. 5 th. Got my shoes mended at Mr. 
Espy's, in Derrstown. A dose of salts at Doctor Beyers'. loth. Mr. 
Hood's text, Ecclesiastes, xi : 19-20. 13th. I gave one Meloner a 
certificate that he was taken prisoner with me on shipboard. 17th. 
At Derrstown, heard Kremer tell of arresting Langs for passing 
counterfeit money at four taverns and two stores. i8th. Eight 
strangers at supper. 19th. George, Tommy Scott, and Allison went 
to Colonel Kelly's. A quilting party there. Plenty of rye there. 
Mr. Allison, a spark of Betsey Kelly's. 25th. Christmas — very quiet. 
Met some Penn's valley folks, Billy Clark, and gentry, going to 
George's to spend the evening. 27th. Wa:lter Clark called, and 
took George along to a " kicking frolic ". [Old settlers well know 
what that means.] 28th. Party at Mr. Hood's. McClures, How- 
ards, &c., there. Two turkeys and twelve sorts of diet. 30th. At 
Milton. Called at D. Smith's, McKisson's, Donaldson's, McCann's, 
Calhoun's, on Hannah Rees. Dined at Doctor Dougal's, with Sam 
Hood. 31st. General Baldy's wife has a young son. 



384 AANALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1809. 

Marriages. 

January 4, Henry Grove with Hannah Leisenring, of Lewisburg, 
(by Henry Spyker, Esquire,) in presence of his three brothers, John, 
Samuel, and Frank, two sisters, Betsey and Sarah, &c. 

January 8, by same, Philip Frederick with Christena Brown, in 
presence of John Brown and wife, T. Sheckler and wife, Peter Brown 
and wife, Abraham Brown, George Frederick. 

April II, by A. McLanachan, Esquire, John Vandyke to Miss 
Margaret Adams, both of White Deer. 

April 13, by same, John Ranck to Miss Nancy Luther. 

June II, by Henry Spyker, Esquire, General Christopher Baldy 
with Eve Metzgar. 

June 28, by Henry Spyker, Esquire, Joseph Bower with Susanna 
Machamer. 

July 25, by Henry Spyker, Esquire, Lawrence Martin with Polly 
Juge. 

August 31, Robert Montgomery with Nancy Knox, in presence 
of her father, George Knox, her brother, James, and sister, Bell, (by 
Henry Spyker, Esquire.) 

On Tuesday, the 12th October, by the Reverend Mr. Deffen- 
baugh, Mr. John Sierer, aged sixty-five, to the amiable Miss Louisa 
McMillan, aged nineteen, both of Buffalo ; and on Thursday, the 
2ist ultimo, by Esquire Hamilton, Mr. George Knox, of Derrstown, 
to Miss Jane Mcllroy, near Pine Creek. 

Deaths. 

Tuesday, 21st March, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, John 
Linn, of White Deer township, of pleurisy, on the tenth day of his 
sickness. He was buried at Buffalo Cross-Roads, on the Thursday 
following. The funeral was attended by a large concourse of people. 
He was an inhabitant of this county upwards of thirty-six years, and 
twenty-one years an elder of Buffalo church, and principal clerk, 
conducting the music. He came into the Valley in 1772, and en- 
dured the hardships incident to the early settlement of the country, 
frequently sleeping on his cabin floor, with a bag of grain for a 
pillow, and his rifle by his side. During the year 1779, while' off 



1809.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 385 

on a tour of service, his cabin was spoiled by the Indians. He was 
married by his brother, Reverend Doctor WiUiam Linn, to Ann 
Fleming, of Middleton township, near Carlisle. She was of the 
Fleming family, of Chester county. Her ancestor, William Fleming, 
came over before 17 14, and settled in Cain township, in Chester 
county. From there, his descendants moved up to Cumberland 
and Northumberland counties. John Linn's children were : Susan, 
married to Wilham Thompson, (son of Captain James,) in 1804, 
and shortly after removed to Venango county; Ann, married to 
Andrew McBeth, a son of John McBeth, of Aaronsburg, died at 
Greencastle, Indiana, October 1873, ^S^^ eighty-six; William 
Linn, who moved to Miami county, Ohio, died there, October 26, 
1834. John Linn, married to Mary F., daughter of Colonel Wil- 
liam Chamberlin. He resides at Mount Vernon, Ohio. Margaret 
Linn, married to Joseph McCalmont, of Venango county, died 
February 7, 1873. The late James F. Linn, Esquire, of Lewisburg, 
who died October 8, 1869, aged sixty-seven, and Jemima Linn, 
who died April 17, 1873. 

Doctor William Kent Lathy, of Northumberland, July 28. 

August 10, Mathew Huston, q.6\\.qx oi Ai'gus , aged fifty-one years. 
He was an officer in the Revolution, participated in the battles of 
White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown. 
Afterwards representative of the county of Philadelphia, and was six 
times elected clerk of the House. Father of the late Mrs. Hannah 
Taggert, of Northumberland, and of Andrew C. Huston, Esquire. 

Albright Swineford died. His children were : Catherine Cum- 
mings, (wife of John, senior, and mother of John J.,) George, Mi- 
chael, Peter, and Jacob. 

Adam Ranck, of White Deer. Children : Rachel, John, Daniel, 
Noah, Mary, and Adam, junior. 

Conrad Reedy, of Buffalo. Children : John and Jacob. 

John Beatty. 

October 22, Colonel John Clarke, aged seventy-three. He is 
buried in the Lewis grave-yard. His children were : Jane, wife of 
David Watson, (mother of John C, William, and David Watson;) 
Joseph Clarke, who had two children, William and Grace. 

October 6, Mary Hutchinson, of White Deer township, aged sixty- 
seven, thirty-six years a resident of the Valley. Children : Sarah, 
25 



j86 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1810. 

wife of James Cornelius ; Mrs. Elizabeth Criswell, (mother of James, 
of Lewisburg.) 

John Swineford. Children : John, Mary, married to Jacob Foltz ; 
Margaret, with George Snyder ; Susanna, with Jacob Fryer ; Eliza- 
beth, with John Smith ; Catherine, with John Aurand ; Jacob, and 
Albright. 




1810. 



Counterfeiters Arrested — ^Langs' Suicide — Daniel Doudle — Roan's 
Journal — Notice of Nathan Evans. 

|ENATOR, James Laird. Representatives, John Murray, 
Jared Irwin, Leonard Rupert, Frederick Evans, elected 
in October. Treasurer, David Taggert. Commissioner 
elect, Joseph Gaston. Commissioners' Clerk, Nathan 
Patton. Postmaster at Miflflinburg, Thomas Youngman. Henry 
Yearick commissioned Justice of the Peace, June 4. 

Passing counterfeit money seems a very prevalent offense. Doctor 
Thomas Barrett, of Danville, convicted. George Langs and Jared 
Langs also. Barrett made his escape from jail at Sunbury. Sheriff 
Lebo was complained of for his negligence with prisoners. At April 
term (20th) George Langs received his sentence. He bowed to the 
♦ court, and retired. The next morning his daughter called on him. 
He asked her to withdraw a little while, and about one hour after- 
wards he was found hanging on an iron bed, near the door of his 
room. He was convicted of passing a counterfeit $20 note upon 
John Sargent, of Lewisburg. 

Additional Residents ' East Buffalo — Bird, John and William ; 
Brewer, Matthew ; Brewer, Thomas ; Clements, Michael ; Gross, 
Jacob, carpenter; Hahn, Andrew; Kreisher, Henry ; Lilly, Peter; 
Slear, Charles; Zellers, George. 



1810.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



387 



Le^Jsburg Bo^,r, Joseph; Gordon, John B., dyer; Hutchin- 
son Alexander ; McClure, MatAevv; Pross, John. November 10, 
McQuhae and Hepburn opened a new store 

meSlnt^"'^''""'''"'"' "^"""^ ^ ''°^^' ^^^^^^^ ^^'^< >--' 
_ White i?..r_Caldvvell, Daniel; Dieffenbach, Adam; Eyer Dan- 
iel ; Guyer John ; Haas, Peter; Huff, Thomas; McKisson, James, 
smgle ; Reed, Robert. 

^-/^.#^/._BeideIman, Valentine; Bilman, Dewalt; Braucher, 
Christian ; Deal, John, carpenter ; Wright, John 

J^i^/;.^..j_Montelius, John. John Bergstresser bought Henry 
Snyder s mill on Rapid run. The latter probably died this year. 

Daniel Doudle. 

Daniel Doudle was an acquaintance of Governor Snyder in his 
boyhood, and in maturer years he would sometimes pay the Gover 
nor a visit, at Selinsgrove, and thus formed acquaintance with George 
Kremer. After George moved to Derrstown, and established him- 
self in business and a bachelor's hall there, Daniel extended his visits 
thither, and became so much pleased that he resolved to forsake York 
altogether, and remain with George. Accordingly, he sent for his 
money, a considerable stock of dollars, and took up his abode in 
Derrstown. He and George agreed very well, for George humored 
him m all his whims, but he quarreled sadly with old Pe-gy Miller 
the housekeeper. Sometimes he would come in a towering passion 
to George, with -Now, George, I can't live with the old devil any 
longer. Just send me off to Selinsgrove, to Simon, and he will send 
me to York." -Well, well," said George, -Roan (Glark) or John ■ 
shall take you and your money in the cart to Selinsgrove as soon as 
you like." - Do you think," Daniel would reply, - I would trust 
myself with the damned rascals? They would murder me for my 
money before we got half way to Selinsgrove." Then an argument 
would commence on the honesty of Roan and John, which generally 
lasted until Daniel, in his rage against these two, had forgotten his 
wrath toward old Peggy. At length, Daniel fell into the hands of 
an old Methodist woman, who, by her exhortations, made consider 
able impression on him. After spending an evening at Mother 



jSS ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1810. 

Grove's, Daniel came home with a face so solemn and important 
that the whole family noticed it, and, knowing where he had been, 
the clerks followed him on his retreat to bed, and peeped and listened 
at his door. Daniel locked his door, looked carefully around, 
undressed, (taking off his hat the last of all, as was his custom,) 
kneeled by the bedside, and commenced thus: " O, Lord God; " 
then ensued a long pause. Up rose Daniel, exclaiming "It is too 
damned cold to pray here ! " and jumped into bed. Whether Dan- 
iel made another effort to pray is uncertain. He once acted god- 
father for one of his friend's children. The clergyman asked the 
name of the child. Daniel, understanding him to ask his name, 
promptly replied : "Daniel Doudle, to be sure. Don't you know 
me any more?" Daniel, at this time eighty years of age, usually 
dressed himself once a day in state, in a blue silk-velvet coat, white 
vest, ruffled shirt, brown silk-velvet small-clothes, and turned-up 
shoes, and paraded himself down to the river bank and back, to 
exhibit himself to the ladies. He lived to be one hundred and one 
or one hundred and two years of age, dying in August, 1828, at 
Mr. Kremer's, near Middleburg, where his bones rest with those of 
his friends, Frederick Evans and George Kremer. Certainly three 
more singular men were never so intimately associated in life and 
rest so close together in the solemn silence of death. 

Among other characters of this date, were Billy Nicholas, a car- 
penter of White Deer, and old Mr. Mook, the revolutionary soldier. 
Saturday was the usual day to assemble in Lewisburg, and getting 
pretty drunk, old Mook asserted he could " hex a bullet" at an hun- 
dred yards. Mook held a silver bullet in his hand and began pow- 
wowing. Billy shot from the porch of Metzgar's tavern, knocked 
the bullet out of Mook's finger, skinning the latter considerably, 
thus disabusing Mook's mind of the idea that he could "hex." 

Roan's Journal. 

January 23. T. Clingan had a water-smeller, to find where he 
should put the well on his place. Grand ball at Baldy's. Poaks 
and a number from Milton there. 24th. Rees' vendue at Derrs- 
town. 

April 8. T. Clingan, Wilson Smith, and I went to Daniel Smith's 



1810.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 3S9 

funeral ; eighteen chairs and carriages ; one hundred and twenty on 
horseback. 1 4th. Planted two Lombardys at the school-house. Met 
Mr. Coryell at Poak's. He brought his family from Williamsport 
in a canoe. 17th. Review day. Seven hundred on parade at Derrs- 
town. 

June 2. Hoffman sold his place to one Boal. 3d. At Chillis- 
quaque grave-yard. Saw Dan Smith's grave. 4th. I dreamed 
Dan Smith came to life, and exhorted us to " remember our Creator 
in the days of our youth." Hail storm broke a great quantity of 
glass at Derrstown. 5th. George Clark left for the State of Ohio, 
nth. John Clark died. 12th. Fair at Sunbury. i8th. General 
Baldy's flitting in town. Moving to Cayuga lake. 2 2d. Fast day. 
Clerked at the election of elders. 23d. Mr. Grier ordained four 
elders. 

July 3. Rode with Adam Smith to Centre county. Stopped at 
Wilt's and fed at Miles', at Aaronsburg. 4th. Met Esquire Woods, 
Barbers, and a great company at Gregg's. 5th. At Mrs. Van Horn's, 
a very fashionable old lady. Dined at James Potter's, with Doctor 
Dobbins. 6th. Saw the grave Nuby was stolen from. 27th. Fair 
at Derrstown. 29th. Buffalo creek higher than it has been for twenty 
years. Mr. Hood could not attend church. Hudson's surrounded. 

August 2d. Esquires Hall, Evans, Albright, and Maclay at an 
audit, in Derrstown. 9th. Black Judy came to wash. 24th. Met 
John Hayes and his brother, Patrick, at Esquire Gray's. 31st. 
Thirty bills for bastardy before the grand jury. 

September 6th. Robert Boveard married to Hugh Wilson's daugh- 
ter, the amiable Miss Peggy. 

October 4th. Mr. Priestly got Clingan's carriage to carry his 
family to Philadelphia, on their way to England. 9th. Clerked at 
the election, at Derrstown. One hundred and forty-eight votes 
polled. George Smith candidate for Congress ; no opposition. 
James Laird vs. A. McKinney for Senate ; Laird elected. ' Candi- 
dates for Assembly, John Murray, Fred Evans, Jarad Irwin, Leon- 
ard Rupert, D. Montgomery, and Samuel Maclay. Commissioners, 
George Holstein and Flavel Roan. 13th. I have seven hundred 
and eighty-six majority for commissioner. 14th. Hugh McLaugh- 
lin's wife buried. i6th. Battalion at Derrstown. Sergeant and 
James Patterson had a box. Great dinner at Billmyer's. 



39° ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1810. 

November nth. Esquire Harding here, on his way from Luzerne 
county to Kentucky. His horse got lame ; they killed a cat and 
put it to his foot. 

December 3d. Doctor Dougal dissected black Tom, and made an 
anatomy of him. i8th. Went to Esquire Gray's to see Samuel 
Hutchinson married to Jenny Wallace. Groom did not come. I 
went up to Hoffman's to see what was the matter. He coyld not 
cross for ice. Came down in a sleigh to Nesbit's, and crossed there. 

Marriages. 

March 13, Moses Bower with Catherine Moyer, daughter of Philip, 
in presence of her brother, Peter, John Fulmer and wife. March 15, 
Joel Ranck with Sarah Long, daughter of Joseph, in presence of his 
father, John Ranck. May 27, George Bower with Polly Smith, 
daughter of Michael, deceased. August 26, Sunday, Anthony Selin, 
of Selinsgrove, to Miss Catherine Yoner, of Sunbury. Same day, 
Conrad Weiser to Elizabeth Snyder, both of Penn township. Octo- 
ber 7, Philip Stahl with Susanna Spotz. October 9, Wilham High- 
land with Mary Gann, widow of Christian. November 11, Michael 
Meyer with Sarah Kelley. December 13, by Reverend T. Hood, 
Washington Dunn, of Lycoming county, to Miss Betsy Musser, of 
White Deer. December 18, by Reverend Mr. Patterson, Samuel 
Hutchinson, of Derry, to Mrs. Jenny Wallace, daughter of Captain 
William Gray, White Deer. 

Deaths. 

April 6, at his seat, at Milton, aged forty-five, Daniel Smith, 
Esquire, attorney-at-law. Left a widow, Cassandra. Children : 
Samuel, Jasper, and Grace. He was buried at Chillisquaque grave- 
yard. July 7, Alexander Hunter, former treasurer of the county. 
Joseph J. Wallis, deputy surveyor. Peter Getz, East Buffalo. July 
4, John Weirick. Children : William, Sarah, and John. October 
15, Albright Swineford, born February 16, 1728. Henry Myers, 
West Buffalo. Children : Henry, Daniel, Valentine, William, John, 
Elizabeth, wife of Royer, Mary, and Eve Maria. Joseph Ultz, West 
Buffalo. November — , Thomas Forster, of West Buffalo. Left 



1811.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jgi 

widow, Jane. Children: John, William, Thomas, Mary, and Eliz- 
abeth Jane. 

Nathan Evans died this year, and his widow removed to Bucks 
county with his family. He was an active christian, and he and his 
wife were Baptists. He was in the habit of preaching at Baptist 
meetings, although not a clergyman. His granddaughter, Mrs. 
Professor C. S. James, of Lewisburg, has in her possession many 
abstracts of his sermons, preached in the Valley. 




1811. 



Hartley Township Erected — Presbytery of jSTorthumberland Formed 
— Impeachment of Judge Cooper— Reverend Yost Henry Fries — 
Death of Honorable Samuel Maclay. and ISTotice of his Family. 

EMBER of Congress, George Smith. Senator, James 
Laird. Members elected in October, Samuel Bond, Ja- 
red Irwin, Andrew McClenachan, and Frederick Evans. 
President Judge, Seth Chapman, commissioned July 11, 
Register and Recorder, John L. Finney, commissioned April 3. 
County Commissioner elect, Flavel Roan. 

April sessions, Robert Barber, John Wilson, and Peter Fisher 
reported favorably to the erection of a new township, to be called 
Hartley, by the following boundaries : Beginning on the line be- 
tween West Buffalo and Washington townships ; thence along the 
same to the four-mile tree, on Reuben Haines' road, on the line of 
Centre county ; thence south along said line, across Penn's creek, 
to the top of Jack's mountain ; thence along the summit, to a point 
south of where Adam Laughlin formerly lived ; thence north across 
Penn's creek, and by a line of marked trees, to the beginning. 

By a resolution of the Synod of Philadelphia, May 16, the Pres- 
bytery of Northumberland was set off from that of Huntingdon by 



392 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1811. 

the following line : Beginning at the mouth of Mahantango creek, a 
north-west course to the west branch of the Centre and Lycoming 
county lines, leaving eastward Reverends Asa Dunham, John Bryson, 
Isaac Grier, John B. Patterson, Thomas Hood, and their respective 
charges, and the vacant charges of Great Island, Pine Creek, and 
Lycoming. 

Additional Residents of West Buffalo — Aikey, Lewis ; Beaucher, 
Jacob ; Orwig, Jacob ; Schnure, Christian ; John Bergstresser, taxed 
with oil and fulling-mills. 

Mifflinbtirg — Clark, Roan, merchant ; Wallis, Doctor Thomas. 

White Deer — Boal, John ; Covert, Isaac, ferry at Caldwell's ; 
Davis, Stephen, miller at Dan Caldwell's ; DeHaven, Jacob, shoe- 
maker, on Roan McClure's place ; Heitzman, Jacob ; Leiser, Jacob ; 
Mervine, Samuel, brick-maker ; Sypher, Peter; Williman, Thomas. 

Additional Residents in East Buffalo — Albertson, John, Jenkins' 
place; Betz, John ; Beaver, Peter ; Brown, Abraham ; Dieffenbach, 
John ; Hafer, Michael, at Hugh Wilson's ; Hamilton, Francis ; 
Hentzleman, George ; Highlands, William ; Howard, George ; 
Kreechbaum, Peter, junior ; Kremer, Charles ; Leiby, Jacob ; Lytle, 
Samuel ; McCrea, Robert, shoe-maker ; McDonnel, John, weaver 
at Jenkins' ; McFadden, John, tailor ; Newman, Michael ; Newman, 
John; Phillips, George ; Shannon, Joseph ; Shirtz, William, weaver ; 
Smalley, Abraham. 

Lewisburg — Collins, Joseph, tailor ; Donaldson, Robert ; Evans 
& Kremer, store ; Kemerer, Charles, tailor ; Langs, Widow ; Mc- 
Quhae, WiUiam ; Miller, Andrew ; Wilson, William, store-keeper. 

New Berlin — Charleton, James; Dennis, Jacob, blacksmith; 
Dennis, John, junior, cordwainer ; Hubler, Abraham, weaver ; Yost, 
Casper. 

Improvements — Daniel Clarke, tan-yard in White Deer. 

Domestic Incidents. 

Uriah Silsby commenced singing schools in the Valley. 

January i6. An article appears in the Argus in favor of the 
division of the county. The distance the people have to travel, the 
expense of ferriage over the river, then an appeal to the pocket on 
account of the expense of ornamenting the town of Sunbury. Ap- 
propriation for a fire engine there. An appropriation that was 



1811-] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jpj 



urged for the building of fire-proof buildings for the records. This 
was the entering wedge of the erection of Union county. In the 
succeeding paper was a strong argument, founded on increase of the 
value of property in the new county. Nearer market for purchase. 
Facility of reaching the county seat. ^Saving of expense of court 
trials. 

from Diary of James McGlellan, Esquire. 

April 9. Had my house and barn consumed by fire. Lost grain, 
meat, and everything but a little flour. Happened between ten and 
eleven, a. m. Received the same evening, of John Rangier, two 
loaves of bread, a shoulder, potatoes, cabbage, &c. James Thomp- 
son, a bag of corn and hay; Joshua Ewing, bag of corn, &c. Next 
day, of William Irwin, Esquire, bag corn, two bushels wheat, load 
of hay. Matthew Irwin, dry peaches, wheat, &c. William Clin- 
gan, wheat and rye, and other articles from John Frantz, Jacob 
Reedy, Jacob Dunkle, Martin Dreisbach, Jacob Hinely, John Stahl, 
John Kelly, William Dunkle, Samuel Templeton, Mrs. Linn, 
Samuel Sterret, John Baker, Jacob Baber, David Watson, Peter 
Dunkle, John Kaufman, Thomas Howard, Hugh Wilson, William 
Hayes, James Magee. Reverend Isaac Grier, Academy at North- 
umberland, the educational point. Latin and Greek languages 
taught for ^24 per annum. 

77?^ Impeachment of Judge Cooper. 

The first charge against him was fining persons and immuring 
then in prison for whispering in court. Cooper's reply was, one 
Hollister, a constable, was merely given in custody of the sheriff 
one hour, until the disposal of a case, and then fined $2. This was 
at Wilkesbarre, in 1807. 

Second charge. Imprisoning a respectable citizen for wearing a 
hat, in conformity with a religious habit. Cooper replies that he 
did not recollect the circumstances exactly, and presented the affi- 
davit of Doctor James Dougal, who says he was present in court, 
and on account of the confusion and deafening noise there was for- 
merly in court, he recollected the circumstances vividly. John 
Hanna was standing close to the bar, with his hat on. A young 



394 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. \\%\\. 

looking man stood behind him, with his hat on also. Judge Cooper 
arose and said : I will thank you, Mr. Hanna, to tell that young 
man to take his hat off. The young man walked away. Judge 
Cooper waited a little while, and then said to Mr. Hanna : I will 
thank you to pull off your own. Hanna made no reply. The 
judge repeated the request. Hanna replied in a coarse, low voice, 
which I could not hear distinctly, but I thought he said, if you want 
it off, take it off yourself. The judge then said, this is not a wor- 
shiping assembly, nor a play-house, nor a dance-house. Is a court 
of justice entitled to less respect than any of these places ? And 
then requested him again. On Hanna making the same reply, I 
believe, as above, the judge said : Sheriff, take this man to jail. 
The sheriff took Mr. Hanna by the hand and they both walked off. 
Judge Cooper then states that Hanna lived at Northumberland, and 
was an old neighbor. He had never heard or suspected that he. had 
any scruples on the point; that he asked him when he came to fine 
him, whether he was a Quaker, and he said not ; then whether he 
had any religious scruples on the subject, he said yes. I then said, 
if he had said so, that would have been sufficient to entitle him to 
keep his hat on.^ 

Third charge. After sentencing a felon, calling him from prison, 
and pronouncing a second sentence, increasing the penalty. This 
referred to the case of young Gough, a horse-thief, convicted at 
Wilkesbarre. The court sentenced him to twelve months, he having 
plead guilty. The next morning, Judges Hollenbach and Fell in- 
formed Judge Cooper they had understood he was an old offender. 
I gave it as my opinion, says Judge Cooper, that during the ses- 
sions, the judgments were in the power of the court, and subject to 
revisal. He was re-sentenced to three years. 

Fourth charge. That he has decided important causes in which 

> It is not many years since the courts in Olearfield county were also hard to keep in 
hand. The folks stood around, as Judge G-. W. Woodward said, like people in an 
auction-room. When the Honorable James Burnside held his first court there, the 
people crowded in among the lawyers, and in front of the bench. An indictment 
was brought against one Pennington. The judge called out: "Is Pennington in 
court?" A stalwart man standing in front of the crowd, said : " Jedge, you better 
call out the whole damn grist of the Penningtons." The judge put on a severe 
look, and commenced a lecture to the man for disturbing the court. After he pro- 
ceeded awhile, the man said: "Hush up, jedge, you are making a damned sight 
more disturbance than I did." 



1811.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. . jg^ 

he was interested. Judge Cooper's contradiction is too long for in- 
sertion. 

Fiftli. Setting aside the verdict of the jury in an intemperate and 
passionate manner. In the case of Albright and Cowden, Judge 
Cooper and his associates, Wilson and Macpherson, agreed in opin- 
oin. Judge General Montgomery differed. Judge Cooper charged 
the jury, and General Montgomery also, and the jury w8nt with the 
latter. The verdict was set aside by Judge Cooper. The latter 
denied intemperance of language. 

Sixth. Browbeating counsel and witnesses. Judge Cooper admits 
reprimanding members of the bar, for unprofessional conduct, in 
managing a cause ; for making statements not supported ; for per- 
severing in objections, after the court had decided : for want of 
silence, and keeping order ; but denied anything further contained 
in the charge. 

Seventh. That he appeared armed. Judge Cooper says he never 
carried arms but once, and then on the road from Northumberland 
to Williamsport, as he had been warned that he would be attacked. 
After calling the jury at Williamsport, Judge Cooper went off the 
bench, and made information against the party who had threatened 
him. The party, a professional gentleman in the neighborhood, of 
good character, came forward, and, finding himself mistaken, the 
complaint was dropped. 

Eighth charge. That he refused to hear persons in their own de- 
fense. This denied in toto. 

Ninth. That he had issued a proclamation against horse-racing, 
and then ordered a suppression of the proclamation. Judge Cooper 
says : This is true. Some of my friends, engaged in the said horse- 
race, applied to me, and stated that horses were expected from Phil- 
adelphia; that the county was generally notified, and that there 
would be a great assemblage of people ; that the tavern-keepers had 
made expensive preparations, and that it was too late to put a stop 
to the meeting. They said if I insisted in my opposition to the race, 
they would submit to the law ; but this should be the last race, and 
they would be individually responsible for keeping order, suppress- 
ing gambling, riot, &c. This was acceded to, and there has been 
no horse-racing since in Sunbury or in the county, that I know of. 

Tenth charge. Fining and imprisoning a constable for neglecting 



39(> ■ ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1811. 

to execute a process issued contrary to the Constitution and laws. 
This referred to the case of Conner, who so misused the warrant 
Judge Cooper had issued for arresting Jacob Langs, a counterfeiter, 
that the latter escaped. Judge William Montgomery, of Danville, 
although he frequently differed with Judge Cooper, came out in a 
strong affidavit, in which he said Judge Cooper was a good lawyer, 
earnest in preparing public business, prompt in his decisions, and 
clear of partialities, and that he had, with manly firmness, opposed 
further and unnecessary litigation, and disposed of the charges as 
far as they referred to Judge Cooper's practice in Northumberland 
county. 

The committee to investigate the charges met on the yth of March, 
(at Lancaster.) ' John B. Gibson, Samuel Dale, and Jared Irwin were 
of the committee. Mr. Duncan, of Carlisle, appeared for Judge 
Cooper; Mr. Greenough, for the petitioners. Jared Irwin com- 
plained to the committee that Daniel Levy, Esquire, was interfering 
outside in favor of Judge Cooper; whereupon, Mr. Duncan dis- 
claimed having any connection with Mr. Levy, and added, that it 
was this young man's folly that caused Judge Cooper to be here. 
After an examination of Charles Hall, Esquire, Frederick Evans, 
and many other witnesses, the committee reported that the Judge's 
conduct had been arbitrary, unjust, and precipitate, and in favor of 
an address to the Governor for his removal. ''More than two thirds 
of the Legislature voted for his removal," says the Argus, of April 3. 
The witnesses called on his side were Doctor Dougal, Joseph Priestly, 
George Kremer, Colonel D. Montgomery, Charles Hegins, John 
Cowden, E. G. Bradford, &c. "Judge Cooper spoke four and a half 
hours, in a very eloquent and impressive manner." — Ibid. In the 
Argus of the 17th, the testimony of the witnesses is printed in full. 
Judge William Wilson (of Chillisquaque) says: "The court was 
very disorderly before Judge Cooper's time. I have seen Judge 
Rush leave the bench. It is now very orderly. Judge Cooper can- 
not see very well. John Dreisbach, of Mifflinburg, was one of the 
parties Judge Cooper fined for talking to a witness. Dreisbach said 
he was merely telling the witness that court had adjourned, as the 
man was hard of hearing. Esquire Youngman came forward to 
speak in my favor, and the judge told him he would fine him a 
dollar if he did not keep still." The courts in May were held by 



1811.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jgj 

Judges Wilson, Montgonaery, and Macpherson. A queer rule was 
adopted : "No bills on the return of a constable, unless at the re- 
quest of the mother of the child, or the overseers of the poor, or by 
special direction of the court, should be returned." 

September 17, convention met at Derrstown, and made the fol- 
lowing nominations : Simon Snyder for Governor ; Jared Irwin, 
Frederick Evans, Samuel Bond, and Andrew McClenachan for mem- 
bers ; Commissioner, Henry Vanderslice ; Auditors, Hugh Wilson, 
(ridge,) Charles Gale, and Andrew Albright. 

The election returns gave Simon Snyder all the votes, except 
twelve, polled in Buffalo for Jacob Bumberger. Bond, Irwin, Mc- 
Clenachan, and F. Evans were elected to the Assembly, with Henry 
Vanderslice for county commissioner. Auditors as above. 

Argus, of November 13, says: "William Hayes, of Derrstown, 
raised five pumpkins on one vine, largest weighing one hundred and 
sixty pounds ; least, fifty-four pounds." 

Roan's Journal. 

February i . Judge Cooper a good deal annoyed about the peti- 
tions to remove him. 2d. Stopped at Irely's, (Winfield.) 4th. 
Scurrilous poetry circulating among the neighbors about last hallow- 
een night. [The family feuds in the Valley may be traced to this 
practice. It will be all understood by the old residents.] Entry of 
the 7th. James Dale and James McClure had a bout at Derrstown 
about hallow-een night stories. 14th. Mr. Barber married to Polly 
Vanvalzah. 19th. Thomas Proctor and Polly Musser married. 

March 5. At Jimmy Wilson's: three Moores, of Lycoming, two 
Vanvalzahs, Bob Fruit and Nancy, two of the Nevius girls, and 
Polly Darragh, at the spinning. March 8. Tailor McFadden work- 
ing at Clingan's. James McClellan had his house and barn burned. 
13th. R. Mc and Aaron C would have fought at Rees' to- 
night, but Long John Maclay prevented them. All about hallow- 
een night. 20th. Concert of the singing-school at Derrstown. Eat 
cakes and drank cider with a number of young ladies and gentle- 
men at Granny Phillips'. 29th. Firing of cannon and rejoicing at 
Northumberland, on account of the removal of Judge Cooper. 

April 5. Citizen Kremer has lost popularity by taking Judge 
Cooper's part. 



3g8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1811. 

May 1 8. Great horse-race at Derrstown. 

August 19. The new Judge, Chapman, took his seat. 

September 8. A blazing star, like a comet, appeared in the north 
for some time. 17th. Nominating convention met at Derrstown. 
McLanachan put on the legislative ticket, with Evans. i8th. Comet 
still visible, going around the north star like the pointers in the 
bear. 19th. Quilting at Mr. Laird's. Thirty ladies there. Hayes 
says Fred Evans is a Burrite. 29th. Graham had a child baptized 
Caroline. 

October 8. Election at Derrstown. Two hun^^ed and forty-six 
votes polled. Eeople pretty quiet. 15 th. William McQuhae mar- 
ried to John Cowden's daughter. 2 2d. Review at Derrstown. Fid- 
dles going all day at the tavern. 26th. John Musser, with Thomas, 
at Philadelphia. He had a horse stolen there. It takes two weeks 
to make the trip. 

November 9. Called at Giddy Smith's, to get signers to the peti- 
tion for a new county. Giddy says there are too many Federalists 
on the petition, nth. Esquire Vincent, Esquire Brown, and Mr. 
Iredell here on a road view. They are very jocose, sociable, and 
funny men. 

December 1 1 . James Clark took Flavel home with him to a kick- 
ing frolic. 17. T. Woodside here, surveying Mr. Lyons' land, sold 
to Frantz. 

Governor Snyder's message, of December 3, is worthy of remark, 
as containing an emphatic protest against slavery, and also a strong 
recommendation of the canal system. 

That noted divine, Yost Henry Fries, now enters the Valley, and 
his wide-spread influence takes its start. The Reformed congrega- 
tions had become vacant, by the resignation of the Reverend Jacob 
Dieffenbach, in 1810, and Mr. Fries was induced to make a visit to 
Buffalo Valley from his congregation in York county. He was born 
in Westphalia, town of Gusterhain, 24th April, 1777. He landed 
in Baltimore, 20th August, 1803. From early childhood he had a 
strong inclination to the ministry, and, being poor, saw little hope 
of entering the ministry at home, where so many strict formalities 
were observed. He could not pay his passage, and was forced to 
become a " redemptioner ;" that is, he was bound to serve out a cer- 
tain length of time, gener^ly three years, for the benefit of the man 



1811.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ' jgg 

who paid his passage. When a ship arrived, farmers and others, 
needing laborers, would go to the port, and buy the time for which 
they were to serve from the captain. Mr. Fries had his certificate of 
church membership, and also a recommendation to a wealthy man 
named Hinckel, at Philadelphia. It seems he never presented the 
latter, as Doctor Harbaugh found it among his papers, long preserved 
after his death by a daughter, near Mifflinburg. Mr. Fries fell into 
the hands of a kind German farmer, in York county. He was honest, 
industrious, and trusty, and soon won the full confidence of his em- 
ployer. He was fond of improving his mind in spare hours, and his 
desire to be a minister stirred him strongly. He spoke in small assem- 
blies, when he got the opportunity. There was, however, nothing 
fanatical about him, yet he went so far once as to preach a sermon, 
in a school-house, on the words, "Much study is a weariness to the 
flesh," Ecclesiastes, xii : i. A singular text certainly to begin with. 
He commenced his preparatory studies with Reverend Daniel Wag- 
ner, in Frederick, Maryland, April 3, 1809, and, after being with 
him a year, was licensed at Harrisburg, and on the 20th of June, 
1810, took charge of eight congregations in York county. 

In June, 181 1, he came up on a visit to Buffalo Valley, and on 
the 2 2d preached in the Dreisbach church, on Acts, v: 31 ; on the 
23d in Mififlinburg, Acts, xxvi : 28 ; in the afternoon of the same day, 
at New Berhn, on 11 Peter, i : 19, and in the evening again at Mifflin- 
burg, on I Corinthians, xvi : 13. In October, 1 8 1 1 , he made a second 
visit to Buffalo Valley, from 1 7th to the 24th. He preached at Ans- 
pach's school-house, Dieffeftbach's, White Deer school-house, Dreis- 
bach church, Mififlinburg, New Berlin, Aaronsburg, and in Brush 
valley, and on the 28th was home again in his charge. A strong 
effort was now made by the churches in Buffalo Valley and neigh- 
borhood to secure his services. — Harbaugh. 

The first meeting of the Northumberland Presbytery was held in 
the Presbyterian church of Northumberland, on the first Tuesday of 
October. Reverend Asa Dunning opened it with a sermon from 
Ephesians, ii : 14. The members composing it were Reverends Dun- 
ham, Bryson, Grier, Patterson, and Hood, with Elders James Shed- 
dan, James Hepburn, William Montgomery, and Thomas Howard. 



400 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1811. 

Marriages. 

Evan Rice Evans was married, last Thursday evening, to Mrs. 
Forrest. She was a widow of five months. (Roan's Diary, 12th 
January.) September 8, Ehjah Updike to Elizabeth Snook, daugh- 
ter of Martin. Witnesses : John Brown, (miller,) Peter Snook, 
Sarah Smith. October 7, William Davis to Catherine Derr, daughter 
of George Derr. December 25, by Reverend Slater Clay, Samuel 
Hepburn, Esquire, to Miss Ann Clay, of Montgomery county. 
DecejTiber 26, John Cochran, junior, with Anna M., daughter of 
Adam Grove. James Kelly, George Kremer, John and Sarah 
Montgomery, and Catharine Gordon. 

Deaihs. 

George Holstein, of Penn's, father of George, of Lewisburg. 

Joseph Evans, Lewisburg. 

Evan Rice Evans, Esquire, in December. 

Henry Myer, of West Buffalo, left wife, Ehzabeth. Children : 
Henry, Daniel, Valentine, William, John, Ehzabeth, Margaret, 
Eve, and Maria. Daniel took his land at the appraisement, and in 
1813 sold it to William Forster. 

William Douglass, West Buffalo. John, James, Elizabeth. 

George Cramer, (of now Union.) Children : Matthew, Howard, 
Chatam. 

Jacob Albright, Beaver. Children : Rachel, married to James 
Moore ; Stephen, Peter, Jacob, Juliana, Catherine. 

February 23, Mrs. Mary Bull, wife of General John Bull, of 
Northumberland, in her eightieth year. She was buried in the 
Quaker grave-yard. Previous to the grave being closed, General 
Bull, although much reduced by sickness and old age, addressed the 
audience as follows: "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken 
away, blessed be the name of the Lord. May we, who are soon to 
follow her, be as well prepared as she was." 

At Sunbury, on Sunday, March 11, John Frick, Esquire, Regis- 
ter and Recorder, aged fifty-one. Left widow and eleven children. 



1811.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ^oi 



Honorable Samuel Maclay 

Died at his residence, in Buffalo Valley, October 5, 1811. He 
was born June 17, 1741, in Lurgan township, Franklin county. Of 
his early education I can learn nothing. His field-note books, as 
assistant deputy surveyor to William Maclay, in 1767 and 1768, are 
before me, and indicate a cultivated hand. He next appears in 
1769, as assistant to his brother on the surveys of the officers' tract 
in Buffalo Valley. He surveyed largely in what is now Mifflin 
county, and took up a good deal of land there. R. P. Maclay, his 
son, still living, related an anecdote which he had from the late 
Judge Brown, of Mifflin county, which is worth transcribing. He 
said : "I was wandering out in the Valley, in search of good loca- 
tions. I was traveling, looking about on the rising ground for a 
bear, I had started, when. I came suddenly upon the Big spring. 
[This spring is four miles west from Reedsvilie, in the rear of a 
blacksmith shop. Still called Logan's spring.] Being thirsty, I set 
my rifle against a bush, and rushing down the bank, laid down to 
drink. Upon putting my head down, I saw reflected in the water, 
on the opposite side, the shadow of a tall Indian. I sprang to my 
rifle, Avhen the Indian gave a yell — whether for peace or war, I was 
not, just then, sufficiently master of my faculties to tell ; but upon 
my seizing my rifle and facing him, he knocked up the pan of his 
gun, threw out the priming, and extended his open hand toward me 
in token of friendship. After putting down our guns, we again met 
at the spring and shook hands. This was Logan, the best specimen 
of humanity 1 ever met with, either white or red. He could speak 
a little English, and told me there was another white hunter a little 
way down the stream, and offered to guide me to his camp. There 
I first met Samuel Maclay. We remained together in the Valley for 
a week, looking for springs and selecting lands, and laid the founda- 
tion of a friendship which never has had the slightest interruption. 

" We visited Logan at the camp, at Logan's spring, and he and Mr. 
Maclay shot at a mark for a dollar a shot. Logan lost four or five 
rounds, and acknowledged himself beaten. When we were about 
to leave him, he went into his hut and brought out as many deer 
skins as he had lost dollars, and handed them to Mr. Maclay, who 
refused to take them, alleging that we had been his guests, and did 
26 



402 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1811. 

not come to rob him; that the shooting had been only a trial of 
skill, and the bet merely nominal. Logan drew himself up with 
great dignity, and said : ' Ale bet to make you shoot your best ; 
me gentleman, and me take your dollar if me beat.' So he was 
obliged to take the skins, or affront our friend, whose nice sense of 
honor would not permit him to receive a horn of powder in return, 
even." 

Mr. Maclay was lieutenant colonel of a battalion of associators,, 
and as such, delegate with McLanachan, Geddes, and Brady, to the 
convention at Lancaster, July 4, 1776, which elected two brigadiers 
and organized the associators, the then militia of the State. 

In 1 792, he was appointed one of the associate judges of thecounty, 
and resigned December 17, 1795. In October, 1794, he was a can- 
didate for Congress, and carried the county by eleven hundred ma- 
jority ; vote only two thousand eight hundred and fifty. In Buffalo, 
he had four hundred and sixty-four, to fourteen for his opponent, 
John Andre Hanna. Served for the year 1795-96. 

On the 2d of December, 1801, Mr. Maclay was elected Speaker 
of the Senate, and re-elected December 7, 1802. On the 14th, he 
was elected United States Senator, and, being Speaker, had to sign 
his own certificate. In January, 1803, he presided at the impeach- 
ment trial of Judge Addison, and continued acting as Speaker 
(against the protest of the opposition, however, after March 3) 
until March 16, when he resigned that position, and, on the 2d of 
September, his position as State Senator. 

He resigned his seat in the United States Senate on the 4th of 
January, 1809. 

Mr. Maclay was very popular in his manners, a good scholar, and 
efficient writer. He had an extensive library, containing many' val- 
uable books. He was always of the people and for the people, 
plain and simple in his manner, disliking ostentation. On one occa- 
sion he brought a handsome coach home from Lancaster, and the 
family took it to Buffalo church the next Sabbath. Mr. Maclay 
noticed the impression, and that coach never left the carriage-house 
afterward ; it rotted down where it was left that Sunday evening. 
He stopped once at the late Hugh Wilson's about tea time. They 
had mush only, and Mrs. Wilson commenced getting something 
better, as she thought. "No," said he, "mush is good enough for 



1811.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 403 

a king's dinner." He was a large man, resembling Henry Clay 
very much, though much stouter in his latter years'. Honorable 
Martin Dreisbach, who still recollects him well, says his return home 
was always indicated by the hogs being driven out of the fields, the 
repairing of the fences, and general activity over the whole place. 
He was a good mechanic also, and often amused himself working 
in the blacksmith shop. His servant, Titus, was a character. His 
hair was white as the snow ; always dressed in a ruffled shirt. He 
walked with a long staff, and on public days he came out in a many- 
colored coat, looking like the king of Africa. He lectured the 
boys somewhat after this style : " Massa Dave a damn fool ; he no 
shoot a pheasant, he no shoot a coo \ cuss a damn fool ; he go into 
the meadow and shoot a blackbo, (bird.) 

Mr. Maclay's wife was Elizabeth Plunket, an account of whose 
family appears ante year 179.1. Their children were : 

1. William Plunket Maclay, born in Buffalo Valley, 23d August, 
1774. Married, in 1802, to Sally Brown, daughter of Judge Wil- 
liam Brown, of Mifflin county, and was, therefore, brother-in-law to 
General James Potter, second, and John Norris, many years cashier 
of the old bank at Bellefonte. Mrs. Maclay died in 1810, leaving 
three sons, Doctor Samuel, of Milroy, William P., and Charles J., 
and in 181 2, William P. married Jane Holmes, of Carlisle, who 
died in 1844, leaving four sons. Holmes, David, Robert P., and 
Joseph H. William P. Maclay died in Millroy, September 2, 1842. 

2. Charles Maclay (John Binns' second in his duel with Sam 
Stewart) died, unmarried, while on a visit in Wayne county, New 
York, aged twenty-eight. 

3. John Maclay, register and recorder of Union county, also 
prothonotary for two terms. Married to Annie Dale, daughter of 
Honorable Samuel Dale, and sister of the late James Dale, Esquire, 
of Buffalo township. In 1833, John moved to Vandalia, Illinois, 
and soon after died, leaving two sons and two daughters, Charles, 
William P., Elizabeth, (afterwards Mrs. Armstrong,) Anne, all since 
deceased. His eldest son, Samuel, died in Buffalo Valley. 

4. Samuel Maclay, married first to Margaret and afterwards to 
Elizabeth, daughters of Reverend James Johnston, of Mifflin county. 
Samuel died February 17, 1836, leaving seven sons and three daugh- 



404 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1811. 

ters, of whom only three are living, Robert P., in Louisiana, and 
Elizabeth and Jane, in Galesburg, Illinois. 

5. David Maclay, married to Isabella, daughter of Galbraith Pat- 
terson, Esquire, died in 1818, leaving no issue. David was a ripe 
scholar, and would have made his mark in public life, if his health 
had not failed. His widow married Honorable A. L. Hayes, late 
and for many years associate law judge of Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania. 

6. Robert Plunket Maclay, born in April, 1799. Senator from 
Union, in 1842. Still living in Kishacoquillas valley, Mifflin county. 
His wife was a Lashells, of Union county. 

Samuel Maclay's daughters were : 

1. Eleanor, the eldest, married to her cousin, David Maclay, of 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Herself and children dead. 

2. Hester, who accompained Charles to Wayne county. New 
York, and died there about the same time. 

3. Jane E., married to Doctor Joseph Henderson, died without 
issue, January, 1848. Doctor Henderson was a captain in the war 
of 1 81 2, and in Congress four years, during General Jackson's ad- 
ministration. He was a brother-in-law of Reverend James Linn, 
D. D., of Bellefonte, now deceased. 

Mr. Maclay is buried on the farm now owned by Joseph Green. 
The brick wall inclosing the grave is within sight from the turnpike, 
after passing the New Berlin road. It is immediately in front of his 
old stone mansion. How few now know that within it rest the re- 
mains of one of Pennsylvania's ablest statesmen. The disjecta mem- 
bra of a fine monument, intended to be placed at the head of his 
grave, still lie in one corner of the inclosure, as they were unloaded 
forty years ago. 




i8i^. 



Division of the County Agitated — Lewisbubg Incorporated — Roan's 
Journal — Rolls of Captains John Donaldson's and jSTer Middles- 
warth's Companies — Reverend Just Henry Fries, Pastor at Mif- 
flinburg. 




EMBERS of the House of Representatives elected in 
October, Samuel Bond, Andrew McClenachan, Leon- 
ard Rupert, and George Kremer. Treasurer, Andrew 

J Albright. Commissioner elect, Henry Vanderslice. 



February 9, Frederick Evans writes to George Kremer : " Musser 
gave me petitions amounting, in signatures, to seven hundred and 
eighty-nine. Get the next sent forward as early as possible. I think 
John Swineford and Seebold would interest themselves to get signa- 
tures, as Buffalo has agreed to their proposals ; that is, to have the 
seat of justice fixed not more than three miles from the center of the 
inhabitable part. By the time you receive this, no doubt you will hear 
that a resolution recommending the petitioners in the Forks, to the 
early attention of the next Legislature, on the subject. If it should 
dishearten the favorers of a division, you can inform them that if 
the west side only sends down five hundred signers more, the Forks 
petition will be re-considered, and things will go on fortunately yet. 
Had the west side petitions came in as early as the Forks, the county 
would, by this time, have been divided. However, there are still 
hopes. If five hundred more signatures cannot be obtained, send on 
as many as can be got. Four hundred and fifty-one would be a 
majority of the taxables. I am glad you are willing to clear out of 
Derrstown. I will leave the place before long, at all events." 

40s 



4q6 annals of buffalo valley. [1812. 

May 25, Methodist church organized in Lewisburg. Sermon at 
Gordon's house ; text : i John, iii : i . 

June 18, President Madison's proclamation declaring war. The 
first bridge was erected over the North Branch to Northumberland, 
during this and the following year, by aid of a State appropriation. 
The division question was the all-absorbing one. By combining 
with Derry people, and others in favor of the erection of Columbia 
county, the division ticket. Bond, Kemer, &c., was elected. It was, 
however, bitterly opposed, and an able paper against the division 
presented, which, among other things, urged that if the soldiers' 
vote at Meadville had been counted, that ticket would not have 
been elected. 

Borough of Lewisburg. 

March 31, the act incorporating the directors of streets, &c., of 
Lewisburg was passed. The first election held under this act for 
directors of streets, lanes, and alleys of the town of Lewisburg was 
held at the house of Andrew Billmeyer, on Saturday, the 1 7th day 
of October. Henry Spyker, John Martin, John Lawshe, John Gor- 
don, and William McQuhae were elected. 

October 23, the directors elected John Lawshe president, and 
Henry Spyker secretary. James Geddes was appointed supervisor, 
Andrew Sherrard constable, George Knox overseer of the poor. 
The first ordinance passed was one requiring the opening of the 
streets, the most of which were fenced in and cultivated at that time. 
They were finally opened in 1813, except in the case of Doctor 
Charles Beyer, who, May 5, 181 3, represented that he had not rails 
to fence with, and if he opened the streets he had inclosed in his 
lots, it would be to the great damage of his grain ; and the directors 
agreeing that this was so, let him off, upon his agreement to pay two 
bushels of wheat and two of rye, immediately after harvest, for the 
use of the corporation, after which they were to be opened. 

Simon Wehr purchased his tavern stand, in Limestone township 
now, and William Pancoast erected his blacksmith shop in Buffalo, 
so long known as Ritter's. 



1812.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 407 



Incidents from Roan's Journal. 

April 25. Christopher Johnson z/^. Mathew Irvine, tried. Verdict 
for plaintiff, $150. 29th. Beyers for Sarah Wister vs. Clark tried. 
Duncan squealed a long time for Sarah. 30th. Dance in the court- 
house to-night. 

May 19. George Clingan went to Mr. Hood's to see Mr. Wright 
married to Miss Lewis. Mr. Hood got $2 for the job. [Mrs. Wright 
was a few years since hving in Stevenson county, Illinois. She was 
a daughter of Paschal Lewis.] 21st. Billmyer executed a deed for 
his land to Gebhart. 

June 4, Thursday. This is Nimrod Hughes' day, but he is mis- 
taken about the dissolution of the world. Went to the meeting of 
the regiment, at Reedy's, about drafting men for the war. 9th. Cap- 
tain Patrick Hayes called. Went with him to Billy Clark's, and 
then to Esquire Gray's. Met John and Robert Hayes there, and 
Judge Macpherson. Thursday, nth. James Sanderson married, on 
Tuesday, to Miss Griffen. He gave Mr. Hood ^20. 12th. Libby 
Robinson married to John Bell, of Chester. 

July 7. Visited my father's grave, in Derry church-yard, Dauphin 
county, with Captain P. Hayes. Tomb-stones are still good. 23d. 
Set off to James Moore's funeral, but was too late. 30th. Continental 
fast-day. Mr. Hood's text, Jeremiah, xiv : 7. Old Captain Kearsley 
spent the evening here. [Captain Kearsley, of the Revolution, died 
March 22, 1830, aged eighty-one, at Middle Spring, Cumberland 
county.] 31st. Went with Captain K. Called at Roan McClure's, 
at Derrstown ; Judge Wilson's ; then at Jones' tavern, Northumber- 
land. Went to see the new bridge building over the river. 

August 20. President Madison's fast-day. Jared Irwin's rifle com- 
pany paraded, and went to the German church. Drank wine at 
Enoch Smith's, with Judge Cooper, Mr. Bradford, Gray, Brady, etal. 
Took tea at Mr. Finney's. 

September 7. Three hundred enlisted troops left Milton, to join 
General Dearborn's volunteers and drafted men. Have orders to 
march to Meadville. 8th. Great consternation in the Valley about 
the volunteers going away. 9th. Volunteers from our neighborhood 
went as far as Derrstown to-night. loth. Volunteers on their march. 
A number of our neighbors among them. i6th. Delegates met at 



4o8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1812. 

Derrstown, and formed two tickets. 20th. Three hundred soldiers 
passed through Milton. 

October 10. Rob. Smith came from Meadville. Troops had 
reached that place, and were in high spirits. 13th. Went to Derrs- 
town. Left my horse at James Geddes', and clerked the election. 
Three, A. M., before we got through. 17th. Borough officers elected 
in Derrstown. 25th. Five doctors tapping Davy Reasoner. 26th. D. 
R. died. 30th. Clerked at presidential election at Derrstown. Gov- 
ernor Snyder's daughter visiting at Kremer's. 

November i. A big bear made his appearance near Billy Clark's 
to-day. 3d. Andy Steel shot at a bear in the meadow at Tommy's 
place. 5th. Tommy returned from Philadelphia. Made trip in eleven 
days. 6th. Clerked at Esquire Gray's vendue. 8th. Mrs. Colonel 
Chamberlin had a young son. This is his twenty-third child. Fourth 
wife. 19th. Young Doctor Kennedy fined $4, for assaulting Doctor 
Martin. 2 2d. Roan Clarke came for Kremer. His wife has a young 
daughter. 27th. Biddle & Dougal vs. Cochran, about some land, 
below Milton. Cochran argued his own case, and spoke nearly all 
day. [Surveyor General Cochran,] Hall, Duncan, and Watts 
against him ; Fisher and Hepburn for him. Cochran got a verdict. 
30th. Betsy Myers and Hetty Shaffer came here to spin. 

December 8. Bill Morton went to hustling match at Myers'. 
Flavel at Mr. Hood's chopping frolic. 13th. Three volunteers went 
past, probably deserters from Canada. 14th. More volunteers went* 
by. John Forster, the widow's son, a volunteer from Canada, here 
to-night. He says, General Sraythe being a traitor, is the reason of 
volunteers returning. i6th. Sam Lytle, another volunteer, break- 
fasted here. 21st. Twenty volunteers passed Green's house. 25th. 
Great quilting and ball at William Wilson's to-night. 31st. At 
Shaffer's tavern, at Sunbury. Got little sleep. They were shooting 
away the old year all night. 

Roll of Captain John Donaldson' s Company, Pennsylvania Militia, 
Colonel Snyder' s Regiment, September 2^ to November 24. 

Captain — Donaldson, John. 

Lieutenants — Chamberlin, Aaron; Hall, John. 



1812,] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 409 

Sergeants — McFadden, John ; Johnston, Abel ; Eilert, Jacob ; 
Cunfort, Henry. 

Corporals — Alsbach, Jacob ; Jones, Samuel. 

Fifer — Dennis, Michael. 

Drummer — Parks, Robert. 

Privates — Auple, Christopher; Barbin, James; Barklow, Francis; 
Black, Robert ; Bower, Joseph ; Chamberlin, Uriah ; Clements, 
Uriah; Cornelius, William; Cosier, Jonathan; Culbertson, Jacob; 
Curtis, Thomas ; Frederick, Samuel ; Frederick, Peter ; Frederick, 
Jacob ; Frock, Jacob ; Forster, John ; Forster, William ; Forster, 
William, junior ; Gibson, John ; Gile, John ; Glover, John ; Gray, 
Robert H. ; Harman, Benjamin ; Hoff, James ; Hollinshead, Fran- 
cis ; Jodon, George; Johnston, William; Jones, Benjamin; Kelly, 
John; Kimple, Philip; Kline Daniel ; Klingaman, Jacob ; Klinga- 
man, John; Klingaman, George; Klingaman, Peter; Linn, David; 
Lytle, Samuel; Lytle, William; McGinnes, John; McKinley, John ; 
McKinley, James ; Magee, John ; Martin, Peter ; Meekert, Daniel ; 
Mies, Jonathan; Miller, Thomas; Miller, Henry; Nelson, Daniel; 
Norman, William; Parks, John; Pearson, John; Rearick, John; 
Reeder, Henry ; Reininger, Henry ; Renner, Michael ; Renner, 
Henry ; Seebold, Christopher ; Shaw, Samuel ; Slear, John ; Snook, 
Peter; Stine, Frederick; Struble, Peter; Struble, Henry; Stuttle- 
bach, Jacob ; Thompson, Samuel ; Turner, John ; Vanhorn, Wil- 
liam ; Walker, John; Wartz, George; Weaver, Benjamin; Weikel, 
Henry ; Wise, John ; Wright, John ; Zimmerman, David. 

It was to this company that Reverend J. H. Fries preached, Sep- 
tember 10, in Ehas church, from Joshua, xxiii : 6, 11. It marched 
to Meadville and Erie ; thence to Black Rock. '« You will think 
strange to hear that all of our volunteers are returned home. They 
give different accounts of the proceedings at Black Rock, but all say 
that they came off without being discharged, and all agree that 
General Smythe has acted the part of a traitor." — Roan Clark's 
Letter to George Kremer, December 1 4. 



410 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1812. 

Roll of Captain Ner Middle swartKs Company, Eighth Riflemen, 
Colonel James Irwin's Regiment, September 25 to November 
24, 1812. 

Captain — Middleswarth, Ner. 

Lieutenants — Youngman, Tiiomas, and Kline, John. 

Sergeants — Wise, George ; Zigler, George \ Devore, Daniel, and 
Schwartz, Daniel. 

Corporals — Nerhood, Adam; Bremenger, Henry; Heater, Adam, 
and McNade, John. 

Bugler — Huick, George. 

Privates — Baker, George ; Bong, John ; Bristol, Peter ; Brunner, 
Henry ; Clements, John ; Devore, Andrew ; Devore, George 
Doebler, Daniel ; Etzler, Benjamin ; Fete, Simon ; Frock, Henry 
Frock, Jacob ; Frock, Benjamin ; Harbster, David ; Hassinger 
David ; Hassinger, Jacob ; Heter, John ; Hammer, Andrew 
Hummel, George ; Kaler, John ; Krebs, Samuel ; Layer, Peter 
Layer, David; Love, William; Lowder, Peter; Lowder, Michael 
Mook, Henry ; Moyer, George ; Nerhood, Jacob ; Peter, Leonard 
Shay, Timothy; Stewart, Thomas;- Stock, Peter; Stock, Mel- 
choir. 

Reverend J. H. Fries was called, 27 April, 1812, to Buffalo Val- 
ley. Early in June, Mr. John Reber an elder^ in the Dreisbach 
church, left home with his team, and proceeded to York county to 
bring up the new minister. Often have we seen this worthy man 
in his old age, renew his youth, while he related, in the most circum- 
stantial manner, the varied events of this eventful journey down into 
a strange country, with much anxiety, and back again, with a pre- 
cious load and a glad heart. Having arrived safely in Mififlinburg, 
Mr. Fries entered upon his duties in his new field on the 1 7th of 
June, 181 2. His field extended east and west from Brush valley, 
and the lower end of Penn's valley, to Bloomsburg, and up and 
down the Susquehanna from Muncy to Selinsgrove. His first reg- 
ular charge was composed of Miffiinburg, Dreisbach's, New Berlin, 
Aaronsburg, and Brush Valley. Besides these, he preached at many 

•John ileber was a warm and staunch friend of the church and her ministers, whose 
house was always open to God's servants ; and who for his generous hospitality and 
piety, is held in grateful rememberance by all who knew him. 



1812.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 41 r 

Other points, in school-houses, gradually laying the foundations of 
future congregations. — Harbaugh. 

Marriages. 

February 2, David Black with Catherine Berrey. February 11, 
John Maclay to Annie Dale. February 11, Aaron Chamberlin to 
Betsy Dale. February 12, Michael Engleman with Barbara Gilman, 
daughter of Jacob. February 25, by Mr. Hood, Robert Fruit to 
Maria Nevius. He was the youngest of eleven children, and Maria 
the oldest of eleven. March i, James Kelly with Hannah Seitz, 
daughter of George. "March 19, James Lawson to Nancy Chngan. 
Calf and two turkeys killed. Twenty-six strangers at the wedding. 
March 26, Thomas Barber to Betsy Clingan. Groom came with 
fourteen attendants ; thirty-seven strangers, altogether. 2 7th, 
twenty strangers, beside the bride and groom, breakfasted at CHn- 
gan's ; twenty-two of us left Clingan's with the bride and groom ; 
four joined us at Doctor Vanvalzah's; went to Esquire Barber's, 
where there was a very large party and much dancing, although 
Quakers."^ November i, John Grove with Sarah Montgomery, 
daughter of John. 

Deaths. 

January 5, Colonel Thomas Youngman, aged forty. Left wife 
and seven children. March 9, John Steel, of White Deer. July 7, 
John Walter, born January 6, 1749. Charles Sechler, East Buffalo. 
Children: Jacob, John, George, Daniel, Catherine, wife of C. 
Reichly. Alexander McGrady, second, shoe-maker, of White Deer 
township. His widow, Elizabeth, died in Ohio, in 1861, aged 
ninety-six. Children: Polly, Margaret, Thomas, Wilham, Eliza- 
beth, Nancy, and Isaac. They all moved to Ohio in 181 9. Thomas 
was in Lewisburg in 1863. Isaac was in the army, near Corinth, 
then. 

1 rrom riavel Roan's Journal. 



i8i3. 




Union County Erected — Officials — Efforts for a Union of the Al- 
bright Brethren with the United Brethren — School-House Lot 
IN Union — Lewisburg in 1813 — Re-survey of the Town. 

EMBER of Congress, Jared Irwin. Members elected in 
October, Samuel Bond, Leonard Rupert, Thomas Mur- 
ray, junior, and George Kremer. President Judge, 
Seth Chapman. Associate, Hugh Wilson, appointed 
October ii. First sheriff of Union county elected, John Ray. 
Prothonotary, Clerk of the several Courts, Register and Recorder, 
Simon Snyder, junior, commissioned October 14, 1813. Deputy, 
John Lashells, Esquire. District Attorney, William Irwin, Esquire. 
November 11, County Commissioners sworn, Daniel Caldwell, 
Frederick Gutelius, and Philip Moore. Clerk, Flavel Roan. Coro- 
ner, John Dreisbach. 

March 22, the act erecting Union county out of Northumberland 
passed. The territory was that part of Northumberland west of the 
river 5 the act to go into effect after the first of November. Courts 
to be held at Mifflinburg until the commissioners appointed by the 
Governor should determine the locality of the county seat. The 
commissioners were directed in the act to select the most central 
point. 

March 23, Governor Snyder appointed James Banks and Henry 
Haines commissioners to fix the site of the court-house, &c. 

March 29, election place for Buffalo, &c., changed to Andrew 
Reedy's, at Cross-Roads. Washington and White Deer, north of a 

412 



1813.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 413 

line from Spruce run, at Matthew Laird's, to John Boal's, at the 
river, to hold their election at. Dan Caldwell's. As the tax-books are 
at Lewisburg, it is unimportant to take further account of them in 
these Annals. 

April 21, Bishop Newcomer reaches Martin Dreisbach's again. 
The Albright brethren had their conference here. Eighteen preach- 
ers in attendance. He stayed with them until the 24th. They dis- 
cussed the practicability and propriety of a union between the two 
societies. He laid the discipline of the United Brethren before 
them for examination. They made no objection, but, on the con- 
trary, appeared to cordially approve of it. They delivered to him 
a written communication on the subject, addressed to the conference 
of the United Brethren. On the loth of November, he was again 
in the Valley, held a meeting at John Walters', and preached at 
Mr. Mack's, near New Berlin, from Psalm xxxiv, last four verses. 
On the forenoon of the nth. Christian Crum, Joseph Hoffman, 
Jacob Bowlus, and himself appeared for the United Brethren^ 
and Messrs. Miller, Walter, Dreisbach, and Mebel for the Albright 
Brethren. The consultation continued until the 13th, but they were 
not able to effect a union. The greatest stumbling-block appeared 
to be this : According to the United Brethren's discipline, their 
local prea.chers have a vote in the conference as well as the traveling 
preachers. This was a sine qua non which the United Brethren 
could or would not accede to, so we parted and came to Young- 
manstown. — Newcomer' s Journal. 

October 25, John Snook and wife conveyed the school-house 
lot in Union township to Christian Gundy, et al. , trustees, bounded 
by Macpherson, Jenkins, Epler, &c. 

November 12, the county commissioners met at Mifflinburg and 
elected Flavel Roan clerk, at ^i 33 per day while on duty. Hired 
a room of George Roush for the prothonotary. Standard of valua- 
tion of first-rate land : East Buffalo, ^40 ; West Buffalo, $40 \ Bea- 
ver, ^30 ; Centre, ^30 ; Hartley, $40 ; Penn's, ^40 ; Mahantango, 
^40 ; White Deer, ^40 ; Washington, ^30. 

March 30, Henry Beck came to Lewisburg from Earl township, 
Berks county. Then Frederick Freedley owned Brown's mill ; George 
Knox had Hull's tan-yard ; Henry Spyker lived in the brick house 
at the river ; Robert Smith, a boatman, where James S. Marsh lives; 



^i^ ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1813. 

Mathias Shaffer, in a two-story house, where M. Halfpenny now lives ; 
Richard McClure, where his grandchildren do now ] William Evans, 
where Joseph Housel now lives ; on the opposite side lived Evans' 
sister. These were all on Front street. Garman kept ferry at the 
stone house, now Martin Hahn's ; John Sargent had a nail factory, 
where F. Davis now lives ; Andrew Shearer kept at Weidensaul's ; 
William McQuhae had a store^ where C. S. Wolfe now lives. George 
Kremer's was the only store-house on the river ; James Black had a 
distillery, and kept store just above the latter, and where Norton's 
coal-yard now is ; White Roost, now M. Halfpenny's, was occupied 
by Billman ; the old Albright tavern by William Poak. At the 
mouth of Buffalo creek there were three houses, owned and occupied 
by John Pross, Valentine Miller, &c. Leisenring, a potter, lived 
opposite John A. Mertz's ; Mrs. Nicely's lot was occupied by John 
Lawshe, senior \ J. B. Linn's, by John Metzgar ; Esquire Cameron's, 
the Black Horse, was kept by John Lawshe, junior ; George Kremer 
had a store, where Jonathan Wolfe now lives. Second street was 
then vacant down to Joseph Glass' lots, lying in common, and pine 
trees growing on them. The brick house of Joseph Glass was built 
by Henry Beck in 1823 ; Joseph Bennett lived where the Union Na- 
tional Bank now is ; on part of Peter Beaver's lot, Henry Burget 
kept a tavern ; George Metzgar lived where Captain Brooke has his 
jewelry store, and had a hatter shop ; an old log house, in from the 
street, next Jonathan Wolfe's, was occupied by John Montgomery ; 
old Mr. Kimmell kept store in the next house ; William Hayes kept 
store where Peter Nevius' widow now lives. Doctor Beyers lived on 
the corner of Third and St. Catherine. No house from there to Mar- 
ket. Alexander Graham lived and kept store on Doctor Harrison's 
corner. There were no houses on Third street north. On the Bill- 
myer lot, depot lot, &c., was a large pond, where they often shot 
ducks. On Fourth and St. Louis, Betsy Amnion's house was built 
this year. There was an old house at the race at St. George, and 
one at the east end of Fourth, occupied by Strickland ; Doctor Wil- 
son's lot was occupied by Mr. Espy, who kept tavern ; on William 
Moore's, Thomas Poak kept bachelor's hall, and a brewery; Wil- 
liam Shearer lived in the old house, lately standing on Cherry alley, 
and followed weaving ; opposite C. Gemberling's, Caleb Fairchild 
had a blacksmith shop ; north was a stone house, occupied by Daniel 



1813.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 415 

Rees as a tavern ; C. Beyers' was occupied by a family named Sey- 
del ; next was Sam Grove, a boatman \ Adam Grove lived on Thomas 
Nesbit's. deceased, lot ; he was the youngest of the Grove brothers, 
Indian fighters, and followed boating ; James Geddes lived on the 
corner of Fourth and St. Anthony, and had a saddler shop ; next, 
north, John Norton, and the next Burgets' house^ which Henry 
Beck moved into. On the opposite side lived John Moore, famous 
many years as a blacksmith \ George Snider, father of widow Stro- 
hecker, lived where John Bieber lately resided ; there was an old 
tan-yard on the property. 

The streets were re-surveyed in the spring of 181 3, and a slight 
angle made to suit the buildings. James Geddes and Thomas Fisher 
carried on a tannery. Peter Nevius, Joseph McCool, and Andrew 
Best were their apprentices. John Musser lived at the Slifer mansion 
farm. High's mill, at the fording, was then abandoned. George 
Derr had built another mill, where Joseph W. Shriner's now is. In 
repairing it, some years ago, Mr. Shriner found an old stone, with 
date of 1778 carved upon it, no doubt the date of Gundy 's mill, 
a few rods above it. On Derr's farm lived Abram Troxell and Wil- 
liam C. Davis ; John Guyer, on the Shuck place ; Thomas McGuire 
kept tavern at the old ferry, now George F. Miller, Esquire's ; Jonas 
Butterfield kept school in the Market street school-house, now Pres- 
byterian parsonage ; Breyvogel kept where the Lutheran parsonage 
now stands ; Charles Cameron lived on Front and St. Mary's. 
Among those who enlisted in the regular army. Doctor Beck recol- 
lects of Valentine Miller, George Christ, Dennis O. Boyle, John 
Buck, and Alexander Hutchinson. Abram Fry lived at the boat- 
yard ; Granny Phillips kept cakes and beer next the Revere House, 
on late Judge Schnable's lot ; John McFadden kept tavern where 
Charles Penny now lives. John Rees, John Beyers, and James For- 
rest succeeded Jonas Butterfield, as school-teachers. 

May 16, Justice Spyker fines Henry Burket, Edward Morton, and 
William Keller each $20, for horse-racing on Market street, Lewis- 
burg, on oath of Andrew Shearer, John McFadden, and Thomas 
Fisher. 

June I, The inhabitants of the town met and resolved that the 
president, secretary, and directors should serve free gratis, and this 
agreement was to remain in full force for ever. The same day, John 



^i(, ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1813. 

Hayes' account for surveying the town was examined and allowed. 
One item was a gallon of Geneva' whisky, one dollar. 

The duplicate for 1813 and 1814 amounted to ^96 88. Expen- 
ditures on streets and survey, in full, $103 06. 

November 2. George Sweeny commenced the publication of the 
Cohmibia Gazette, at Northumberland, a strong war paper, and the 
Sunbury and Northumberland Gazette of A. Kennedy was sus- 
pended. Kennedy was a Federalist, and the war feeling was too 
strong for that paper. Chillisquaque and Northumberland county 
up to the Lycoming line had been erected into Columbia county, 
accounting for the new name. In 181 5 this territory was put back 
to Northumberland. 

Marriages. 

January 24, Jacob Billman to Charity , daughter of Caleb. 

February 4, Paul Goodlander with Rachael Heckel, daughter of 
Andrew. February 11, Jesse Dickson to Polly Merkel, daughter of 
Christian. April i, Philip Lesher to Polly Billmyer, daughter of 
Andrew. April 4, Alexander Donarchy with Fanny Seitz, daughter 
of George. April 6, Daniel Keenly with Maria Richter, daughter of 
John. May 16, Samuel Dersham with Susanna Shadel. August i, 
Levi Burd with Eve Winegarden, daughter of Henry. August 12, 
Francis Jodon with Elizabeth Cherry, daughter of Charles. August 
26, Hugh McLaughlin with Elizabeth McClister. 

Deaths. 

February i , John Sierrer, leaving a widow, Lucy, and the follow- 
ing children : Jacob, Catherine, married to Jacob Reedy, John, 
Elizabeth, married to John Frantz, and Sarah to George Smith. 

William Irwin, Esquire, member of Assembly during the Revolu- 
tion. He left all his property to William, son of John. 

William Clark, an original settler, leaving widow, Elizabeth. 
Children : George, Mary, (who married James Forster, and was 
dead, leaving Jane, married to Thomas Smith, John, William, and 
Ann, married to George Monroe,) Rebecca, Roan, Sarah, William, 
Walter, Flavel, and James. 



1814.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 41 j 

February 21, David Watson, father of late David, John C, and 
William Watson, aged sixty-one. 

March 27, Henry Deal. Family: Henry, junior, Elizabeth, 
married to Jacob Maize ; Mary, to John Grossman ; Nancy, to Jona- 
than Waters \ and three grand-daughters, children of John : Nancy 
William, and Ehzabeth. 

Nicholas Egbert, West Buffalo. 
. May 18, John Bishop, aged seventy, buried at New Berlin. 

Christopher Seebold. 

September 13, Honorable Thomas Strawbridge, aged eighty-two. 

John Walter, of Buffalo. Children : John, Benjamin, William, 
George, Jonathan, Elizabeth, married to Focht; Catherine, with 
George Reed; Margaret, with Adam Witmer; and Mary, with John 
Rodman. His widow, Margaret. 



1814. 



Lewisburg Bridge Chartered — First Courts Held at Mifflinburg — - 
Battle of Chippewa — Captain Evans at Foet McHenry — Eoster of 
Lieutenant Colonel G-eorge Weirick's Regiment — -Rolls of Captains 
Henry Miller, Jacob Hummel, Valentine Haas, John Bergstresser, 
and Ner Middleswarth's Companies. 

ENATOR, Thomas Murray, junior, elected in October. 
Members, David E. Owen, Robert Willett, Joseph 
Hutchinson, and Henry Shaeffer. 

On the 2ist of March, the Houses passed, over Gov- 
ernor Snyder's veto, the act regulating banks. One was allowed for 
Northumberland, Union, and Columbia, to be called the Northum- 
berland, Union, and Columbia Bank. It was located at Milton. 
John Dreisbach was one of the commissioners for this bank. 

On the 26th of March, the charter of the bridge over the Susque- 
27 




4i8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1814. 

hanna at Lewisburg, was granted by the Assembly, under the corpo- 
rate name of " The President, Managers, and Company for erecting 
a Bridge over the West Branch of Susquehanna, at the Town of Lew- 
isburg," and John Dreisbach, Jacob Brobst, William Hayes, William 
McQuhae, James Geddes, and Andrew Reedy, appointed commis- 
sioners to open subscription books. On the 28th, the act transfer- 
ing all suits, and all unsettled estates where the defendant or de- 
cedent resided in the territory of Union to its courts, was passed.- 

Roads laid out — From Mortonsville, by Hugh Wilson's and Derr's 
mill, &c., two and one half miles; from Rockey's mill to Reznor's 
saw-mill, five miles; from Reznor's saw-mill to the Brush Valley and 
Mifflinburg road, four miles one hundred and forty-one perches. 

The first court was held at Mifflinburg, on the 14th of February. 
First grand jurors, John Boal, Adam Regar, Arthur Thomas, Jacob 
Musser, John Fisher, James Madden, Robert Chambers, Valentine 
Haas, Jacob Houseworth, John Nogel, James McClure, John Wil- 
liams, Aaron Chamberlin, Levi Zimmerman, Philip Gemberling, 
Frederick Wurtz, James Caldwell, Andrew Grove, David Simmons, 
Abraham Tenbrooke, Henry Ramstone, John Aurand, John Seidel, 
and John German. The commissions of Judges Chapman and Wil- 
son were read. 

On motion of Enoch Smith, for himself, E. G. Bradford, Samuel 
ETepburn, Ebenezer Greenough, Charles Maus, William Irwin, and 
John Lashells, were sworn in as attorneys. On motion of Mr. Lash- 
ells, John Johnston, and Ethan Baldwin. William Irwin sworn as 
deputy attorney general. On motion of Mr. Bradford, Charles 
Hall, George A. Frick, Alem Marr, and Hugh Bellas were qualified 
as attorneys. The survivor of this bar, George A. Frick, Esquire, 
of Danville, died at Danville, June 10, 1872, aged eighty-five. 

April 21, Gideon Smith sold his farm on Buffalo creek to William 
Young. Andrew Kennedy, junior, commenced a paper at Mifflin- 
burg. He sold out to Henry Shaup, in 181 5, and the latter re- 
moved the press to New Berlin. The month of May was remark- 
able for the appearance in the Valley of locusts in vast numbers. 

June 28, James Banks, of Mifflin county, Henry Haines, of Lan- 
caster, (Edward Darlington not acting,) commissioners appointed 
by Governor Snyder, met at Selinsgrove, and explored the county, 
generally, and viewed a number of different situations which had 



1814.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 4ig 

been in contemplation. After considering advantages of each, and 
having due regard to territory and population, they reported the 
village of New Berlin, alias Longstown, the most eligible and proper 
situation in the county of Union for the seat of justice therein, and 
fixed the site of buildings, of court-house and public offices, on a lot 
belonging to C. Se,eboldj Esquire, and the site for a prison on a lot 
belonging to John Solomon. 

Baiile of Chippewa. 

Camp at Fort Erie, West Canada, July 28, 181 4. 
Dear Sir: Blood, carnage, death, and destruction of men are 
the contents of this painful letter. On the 2 2d, we had orders to 
reduce our baggage, allowing one tent to ten men, and two shirts 
to each officer. The surplus was sent across the Niagara, at Queens- 
town, where we then laid, to be sent to Buffalo. On the 24th, we 
marched to Chippewa. On the 25 th, the enemy appeared on the 
heights, near the Falls of Niagara, two miles distant from our camp. 
At three o'clock, we were ordered to parade. At five, our brigade, 
urider General Scott, marched out. At six, the action commenced, 
when, great God ! to tell the details from that time till ten o'clock 
at night, is impossible. Could I converse with you for the length 
of time we were engaged, I could give some idea of it, but to make 
an attempt will, doubtless, not be unsatisfactory to you. Our bri- 
gade fought a much superior force, under great disadvantages, for 
one hour and a half, and we were completely cut up, more than half 
the officers and men being killed and wounded, when the second 
brigade, commanded by General Ripley, came to our assistance. 
The enemy, at the same time, received reinli'orcements, which made 
the action again severe. General Ryall and a number of prisoners 
were, previous to this, taken by our brigade. Colonel Brady was 
wounded before we were fifteen minutes engaged, and commanded 
the regiment till the action was nearly closed. I assisted him off 
and on his horse during the engagement, when he was like to faint 
from loss of blood. We got possession of the heights, and kept them 
till we got off our wounded. The British made three different charges 
to gain them, but they were as often beat back. Our brigade made 
three charges, in the last of which we lost three officers of our (the 



It 



430 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1814. 

twenty-second) regiment, our brave General Scott heading each 
charge. He was severely wounded in the shoulder near the close 
of the action. General Brown was also wounded. When we re- 
turned from the ground, there were, of our regiment. Major Arrow- 
smith, myself, and thirty privates, that marched into camp. The 
balance were killed, wounded, missing, and in camp. Colonel 
Brady can inform you that I was the only platoon officer of our 
regiment that kept the ground to the last, and marched in with the 
men. For the satisfaction of your friends and yourself, I inclose you 
a copy of our report of the killed, wounded, and missing ; likewise, 
the officers' names who were in the action. Our wounded are at 
Buffalo, in good quarters. Let me hear from you. 

I am yours, sincerely, 

Samuel Brady, 

Twenty -second Infantry. 
Captain Bethuel Vincent. 

N. B. Our total loss in killed, wounded, and missing on that day 
must have been eight hundred. The British loss no doubt exceeded 
that, as General Ryall acknowledged that they were whipped when 
he was taken, and we fought two hours after that, and took nineteen 
British officers. 

You shall see the report in my next. I wish you to show it to my 
friends, but it must not be published. 

13th September, occurred the bombardment of Fort McHenry, 
Baltimore. Frederick Evans was then a captain in the second regi- 
ment of artillery. His commission is dated 23d July, 181 2, to rank 
from the 6th. Mrs. George Kremer told me he assisted in building 
the fort, and was one of its noble defenders. He often described 
the scene inside as terri^c. Three bomb-shells struck and exploded 
inside of the fort, and he remarked one man shaking as if he had a 
chill. He asked to sit under one of the cannon. Evans gave him 
permission, when shortly another shell struck inside and killed him 
instantly. Another man was killed within three feet of him. Their 
coffee ran out, and they had very little to eat for three days. He 
spoke of a woman who brought water for them. A bomb-shell hit- 
ting her, exploded, and she was blown to atoms. He brought a 
small piece of her dress home with him, the largest part of her 
remains that he could find. The fourth shell that came in was 



1814.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 421 

marked "a present from the King of England." This did not ex- 
plode. It weighed within two pounds as much as an ordinary bar- 
rel of flour. This he brought home with him, and it may still be 
seen at Evans' mill, in Juniata county. He said only four shells 
fell inside. 

Muster Roll of the Field and Staff Officers belonging to the Regi- 
ment, or Detachment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George 
Weirick, Brigadier General H. Spearing, First Brigade, Second 
Division, in the service of the United States. 

Lieutenant Colonel — George Weirick, September 24, 181 4. 
Majors — William Taggert and Jacob Lechner, September 24, 181 4. 
Adjutant — George Coryell, September 24, 181 4. 
Surgeon — John Y. Kennedy, September 24, '1814. 
Surgeon's Mate — Thomas Vanvalzah, September 24, 181 4. 
Quartermaster — George Clingan, October 31, 181 4; Quarter- 
master Sergeant, John Reehl, November 5. 
Sergeant Major — Daniel Rohrer, October 5. 
Aid-de-camp to General Spearing — Hugh Maxwell. 
Camp Marcus Hook, November 14, 181 4. 

Roll of Captain Henry Miller'' s Company. 

Pay-roll of the company of infantry from Union county, under 
the command of Captain Henry Miller, attached to the regiment 
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Weirick, Marcus Hook, 
November 10, 181 4: 

Captain — Miller, Henry. 

Lieutenant — McMillan, John. 

Sergeants — Williams, Benjamin ; Rearick, John ; Ruble, Philip ; 
Francis, William. 

Corporals — Specht, Adam ; Wilson, Foster ; Spangler, George ; 
Robinson, Richard. 

Privates — Baker, George ; Baker, Peter ; Barber, John ; Bitting, 
Charles ; Bobb, Conrad ; Bobb, John ; Black, Robert ; Bossier, 
George ; Cooke, Andrew ; Coryell, George, appointed sergeant ma- 
jor, September 26, 181 4; Crossgrove, Samuel; Dar, Elias ; Dreis- 



422 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1814. 

bach, John; Dreisbach, Thomas \ Dunsipe, Daniel; Egbert, Cyrus; 
Eilert, William; Farres, Garrett; Forster, William; Fought, George; 
Fought, Jacob ; Fox, Conrad ; Fry, John ; Gearig, Jacob ; Gear- 
hart, Samuel ; Gill, John ; Gill, William, discharged October 26, 
1814, died at Bellefonte, November 21, 1876, aged eighty-nine; 
Hanius, Peter, (called Panier;) Herger, Henry; Hasenplugh, 
Henry; Hasenplugh, Samuel; Kleckner, Abraham; Kleckner, 
Anthony; Kleckner, Isaac ; Maclay, John, appointed assistant quar- 
termaster general, October 9, 181 4 ; Mangel, David ; Mayer, John; 
Moyer, John ; Moyer, WiUiam ; Myer, William ; Norman, John ; 
Phelps, Francis; Rearick, John; Reichly, William; Ritter, Henry; 
Rote, John ; Royer, Henry ; Saunders, Michael ; Shaffer, William ; 
Shaffer, Jacob ; Smith, John ; Snyder, Michael ; Sleer, George ; 
Shaw, Samuel ; Slough, Benjamin ; Stitzer, David ; Spangler, Chris- 
tian ; Speer, David ; ' Spiegelmeyer, Daniel ; Solomon, Abraham ; 
Thompson, James ; Weight, John ; Zimmerman, Jacob. 

Roll of Captain Jacob HumnieV s Company. 

Pay-roll of the company of infantry under the command of Cap- 
tain Jacob Hummel, attached to the regiment commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Colonel George Weirick, Marcus Hook, November 10, 1814. 

Captain — Hummel, Jacob. 

Lieutenant — Brady, Walter. 

Ensign — Swartz, Francis B. 

Sergeants — Baldy, Stephen ; Eisely, John ; Hammer, John ; 
James, John S. 

Corporals — Gordon, John B. ; Petery, John ; Leisenring, Jacob ; 
Martin, James. 

Privates — App, John; Applegate, John; Armstrong, John; Barn- 
hart, John ; Bear, William ; Bestler, Henry ; Born, John ; Buck- 
ner, John ; Burn, Henry ; Buyers, John ; Campbell, John ; Ca- 
ruthers, Andrew ; Conor, Daniel ; Crutchley, John ; Delany, Dan- 
iel ; Espy, George; Forly, George; Furman, Jona ; Gearhart, 
Daniel ; Haupt, Henry ; Hedrick, Jacob ; Housel, John ; Hoy, 
1-ockwood G. ; Huff, Benjamin; Hull, Isaac; Lowdon, Zachariah; 
McCloughen, Joseph; Mahoney, William; Marsh, Griggs; Mettler, 
William; Mirely, Balser; More, David; Morgan^ Joseph; Morgan, 



18H.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 423 

James ; Masteller, John ; Newcomer, Abraham ; Overdurf, Peter ; 
Redline, John ; Renn, John W. ; Rinehart, Frederick ; Ringler, 
Daniel ; Roadarmel, John ; Sterner, Henry ; Stroh, Jonathan ; 
Wagner, Christian; Warner, James; Weaver, Frederick; Willet, 
William; Willet, Samuel; Woodruff, Elias; Woldigan, William; 
Zeluff, David. 

Roll of Captain Valentine Haas^ Company. 

Roll of the company of infantry from Union county, under the 
command of Captain Valentine Haas, seventy-seventh regiment 
Pennsylvania militia, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George 
Weirick, Marcus Hook, November 10, 181 4. 

Captain — Haas, Valentine. 

Lieutenant — Shedle, Samuel. 

Sergeants — Eckhart, Jacob C. ; Hosterman, George ; Boyer, 
Henry; Hendricks, Andrew. 

Corporals — Johnston, John ; Kleckner, Jacob ; Richter, Freder- 
ick; Overmyer, David. 

Privates — Alter, Joseph, discharged October 5 ; Bachman, Lo- 
renzo ; Bear, Isaac ; Berger, Joseph ; Berman, Anthony ; Benfer 
George ; Binckly, Jacob ; Bous, Frederick ; Bosler, Jacob ; Brous 
Henry ; Buttenstine, Philip ; Clendinin, John ; Doebler, Ludwig 
Derk, Jonathan ; Doffe, John ; Duke, Jacob ; Duke, George ; Ever 
hard, Barnes ; Everhard, Philip ; Fetter, Benjamin ; Folk, John 
Foltz, Joseph; Gordon, Willis; Gaugher, Jonas'; Grim, Henry 
Haas, Henry ; Haas, Daniel ; Hentricks, E. ; Herrold, Phihp 
Hobb, Frederick; Hummel, John H. ; Jarrett, Jacob; Karstetter 
George; Keely, John, discharged October 22 ; Kesler, Michael 
Kreisher, Henry ; Kreitzer, Frederick ; Kuns, John ; Miller, Dan 
iel; Mowrer, Jacob; Moyer, Phihp; Neitz, Jacob; Pontius, Henry 
Rettig, William ; Richenbach, John ; Rusher, John ; Shedler 
Jacob; Shoemaker, Peter; Smith, Abraham; Smith, John; Smith 
Joseph; Sold, Philip; Spaid, Henry; Stahl, Henry; StimeUng 
George ; Stock, Peter ; Swartz, Peter ; Swartzlender, George 
Trester, John ; Wagner, George ; Weaver, John ; Weller, Isaac 
Witmer, Samuel; Woodling, Henry; Wool, Daniel; Yeager, John 
Yeager, Adam ; Yeisly, Henry : Yerger, Philip ; Yordon, John 
Young, Ludwig. 



424 AhNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1814. 

Roll of Captain John Bergstresser's Cofnpany. 

Pay-roll Union county company of militia, attached to the regi- 
ment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Weirick, Marcus 
Hook, November i8, 1814. 

Captain — Bergstresser, John. 

Lieutenant — Fisher, Thomas. 

Ensign — Noll, Henry. 

Sergeants — Silsby, Uriah ; Reedy, Philip ; Gillaspy, John ; Reng- 
ler, Daniel ; Merwine, Samuel ; Sargint, John ; Clingan, George. 

Corporals — Nevyus, William ; Vartz, John ; McCorley, Jacob ; 
Lutz, John. 

Privates — Aikey, Lewis ; Anderson, James H. ; Baldy, Benjamin ; 
Bellman, George ; Bennage, Samuel ; Bennett, John ; Bidleman, 
Abraham ; Bower, William ; Bower, George ; Bower, John ; Camp- 
bell, William; Campbell, John; Campbell, Joseph; Clarke, Joseph; 
Clark, Flavel ; Clark, Francis ; Clark, William ; Darraugh, John ; 
Dempsey, Jonathan ; Darsham, Ludwig ; Diefenderfer, Philip ; Eg- 
burd, Jesse ; Flickingner, Charles ; Frederick, Peter ; Frederick, 
Jacob ; Frederick, Samuel ; Gilman, Jacob ; Goodlander, Paul ; 
Hufford, John ; Heiser, Frederick, discharged October 2 ; Herren- 
don, William ; Housel, Joshua ; Hubler, Jacob; Irwin, John; Irvin, 
William ; Jamison, John ; Jodun, William ; Jodun, Benjamin ; John- 
ston, Thomas ; Jones, John ; Kaufman, Jacob ; Kelly, Andrew, dis- 
charged October 28; Kimmell, Adam; Kunts, Daniel; Kline, 
Abram ; Kline, George ; Lilley, Peter, discharged October 3 ; Lutz, 
Samuel ; McClure, Richard ; McGuire, Richard ; McKinley, Hugh, 
McLaughlin, James ; Maughamer, Daniel ; Magee, James ; Mizener, 
John ; Mengel, George ; Mowry, Peter ; Myers, Peter ; Moyer, 
Henry ; Quinn, Michael ; Rees, John ; Ranck, Jonathan ; Rora- 
bough, Christopher ; Rorabough, Philip ; Rose, Adam ; Shaffer, 
Daniel ; Shaffer, Henry, substitute for John Hummel ; Sheckler, 
Jonas ; Sheckler, Simon ; Smith, Jonathan ; Smith, Adam ; Steel, 
Richard; Steel, David; Stoner, Daniel; Strickland, Samuel; Stru- 
ble, Peter ; Sypher, Jacob ; Vanderhoof, Henry ; Vanderhoof, Wil- 
liam ; Vanhorn, William ; Vanhorn, Abram ; Wallace, James ; Wal- 
ters, John ; Welch, Nicholas; Williamson, Gideon; Wilson, Thomas, 
Wilson, Samuel; Young, Abraham; Zearphus, George, (Sarphus.) 



1814,] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ^25 

In Captain Robert McGuigan's company, November 12 to .24, 
we find the names of— Egbert, John ; Hafer, James ; Haslet, Joseph ; 
Ranck, Adam ; Stadden, WilHam ; Vanlew, Peter ; Whitacre, John • 
Wurtz, Daniel. 

Roll of Captain William F. Buyers' Company. 

Roll of the Northumberland County Blues, volunteer company, 
attached to the regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel 
George Weirick, Marcus Hook, November 10, 181 4. 

Captain — Buyers, William F. 

Lieutenants — Jenkins, Thomas S. ; Scott, Samuel H. 

Ensign — Hepburn, John. -^ 

Sergeants— Wilson, Samuel H.; Wallis, Joseph T.; Sweeney, A.M. 

Corporal — Reehl, John. 

Fifer — Armor, William. 

Drummer. — DeLong, Samuel. 

Privates— Armstrong, Jacob ; Black, David ; Bonham, Thomas 
Buyers, George P. ; Cameron, William ; Campbell, Robert ; Chap 
man, Edward ; Cooke, William ; Cook, Adam ; Cramer, Joseph B. 
Cramer, Abram ; Dale, Henry; Dieus, William ; Dougal, James S. 
Frazier, Charles; Gale, William; Grant, Mact; Grant, Thomas 
junior, discharged October 23 ; Grant, William M. ; Gray, William 
Harris, Thomas ; Hendershot, Isaac ; Hopfer, Jacob ; Huffman 
Joseph; Jones, William; Jones, Jeremiah; Latherland, WiUiam 
Lay ton, William ; Lebo, Daniel ; Lyon, Robert ; Lyon, Jeremiah 
McCord, Isaac; McPherson, John ; Martin, John; Maus, Charles 
Oliphant, James ; Prune, George ; Quinn, John ; Reininger, Henry, 
Rockele, Theodore J. ; Ross, John ; Watson, William ; Weisner, 
John ; Weitzel, George ; Wilson, Samuel. 

Jacob Armstrong, John Martin, Robert Campbell, and William 
Dieus, drafts in Captain Hummel's company, joined my company 
on 29th, They have been in service the same time our company has. 

William F. Buyers, 
Captain Northumberland County Blues. 

The following memoranda are from Lieutenant Colonel Weirick's 
order-book, now in possession of M. L. Schoch, Esquire, of New 
Berlin : 



43(i ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1814. 

General Order, dated at Headquarters, Fourth Militia District, 
Philadelphia, October 19, 1 814. 

The advance corps will consist of the light brigade, under Briga- 
dier General Cadwalader, who will report directly to the command- 
ing general, and act alone under his orders, and those of the War 
Department. Colonel Irvine's regiment of regulars will support the 
advance. The army of the center will consist of Brigadier General 
Spearing's, Smith's, and Snyder's brigades, forming Major General 
Worrell's division. The volunteers and recruits at Bush Hill will 
form the reserve. The New Jersey troops, under General Elmer, 
form the left wing. The officers and men of the fifth United States 
infantry, at camp near New Castle, will form a detachment, under 
the immediate command of the senior officer, and act under Colonel 
Irvine. 

By order of 

Major General Edward P. Gaines. 

Major General Isaac Worrell's headquarters were transferred to 
Marcus Hook, on the 20th of October. Henry Sheets, major general, 
second division ; Brigadier General Henry Spearing commanding 
first brigade, second division, — drafted militia, Northampton, Mont- 
gomery, Lehigh, Pike, Northumberland, &c. ; Hugh Maxwell, aid- 
de-camp ; Thomas J. Rodgers and W. C. Rodgers, brigade majors. 

November 13, Ensign Farnsworth transferred to Captain Miller's 
company. November 15, Lieutenant Colonels Heister and Weirick, 
and the field officers of their respective commands, ordered to report, 
at twelve o'clock, at General's quarters, to decide their precedence 
of rank by lot. 

John Campbell, Griggs Marsh, and David Moore, who have been 
absent without leave, have come this day, and joined their compa- 
nies. I, therefore, order the same to be entered on the regimental book. 

George Weirick, 
Lieutenant Colonel Commanding. 

November 16. The above, who have been reported as deserters, 
are to be tried as absentees. 

George Weirick, 
Lieutenant Colonel. 



J814.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 427 

November 16, lot determined in favor of Lieutenant Colonel 
Weirick, who is hereby announced first lieutenant colonel in first 
brigade, second division, Pennsylvania militia, under the command 
of Brigadier General Henry Spearing, and is to be obeyed and 
respected accordingly. It was determined to mutual satisfaction 
that Major Taggert was properly entitled to the first rank and Major 
Lechner to the second rank in Colonel Weirick's regiment, and will 
hereafter take precedence accordingly. 

November 17, the lot for rank of captain resulted: first captain, 
MjUer ; second. Hummel ; third, Haas ; fourth, Bergstresser. The 
court-martial held at Adjutant Coryell's marquee, John Bergstresser, 
president, Lieutenants John McMillan and Samuel Shedle members, 
Thomas Jenkins, judge advocate, sentenced John Campbell, Griggs 
Marsh, and David Moore to stand camp guard every other day, and 
to be within the limits of the camp during the remainder of their 
tour. 

November 23. The German troops in Major General Sheetz's 
division will be formed upon the parade to-morrow, at ten o'clock, 
with their side arms, for divine worship in German. 

The last orders in the book are dated at Marcus Hook, December 
I : The sick troops are to be discharged on furlough to their res- 
pective homes until further orders. Adjutant of the day, Coryell. 

The discharge of Peter Myers, signed by Captain John Berg- 
stresser, is dated Philadelphia, December 20, 181 4, and I presume 
that is the date of the muster out of the regiment. 

Pay-roll of the Union Rifle Volunteers, commanded by Captain Ner 
Middleswarth, attached to the Rifle Battalion, commanded by 
Captain John Uhle, in the Light Brigade, commanded by General 
Thomas Cadwalader , in actual service at Camp Dupont, Octo- 
ber 27, 1814. 

Captain — Middleswarth, Ner. 

Lieutenants — Mertz, Isaac; Aurand, John. 

Ensign — Devore, Daniel. 

Sergeants — Fryer, Jacob; Weiser, Daniel; Stees, Frederick, jun- 
ior; Weikel, George. 

Corporals — Frederick, Abraham ; Layer, Daniel ; Swineford, 
Albright ; Long, Jacob. 



428 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1814. 

Privates — Beitler, Jacob ; Bird, John; Bowersox, Daniel; Boyer, 
Samuel; Campbell, Elias; Carroll, Henry W. ; Clemence, George 
Dreese, Henry ; Ely, Asher ; Freedley, Ludwig ; Gilbert, Jacob 
Gill, Jacob ; Gilmore, Robert ; Grubb, Jacob ; Kaley, Abraham 
Katherman, John ; Kratzer, Henry ; Kuhns, John ; Loehr, Joseph 
Loehr, Peter ; Martz, Samuel ; Miller, Daniel ; Miller, Jacob 
Mitchell, John ; Moyer, George ; Moyer, Jacob ; Shneb, Henry 
Smith, James ; Stock, Melchior ; Troxell, Jacob ; Thurston, Israel 
Wakey, John ; Wales, John ; Weirick, Henry ; Wient, George. 

• 
Marriages. 

2 2d February, John Beeber married to Miss Anna Baker, by H. 
Spyker, Esquire. 

Deaths. 

At Lewisburg, January 16, Charles Cameron, father of the late 
John Cameron, William Cameron, Esquire, General Simon Cam- 
eron, Mrs. A. B. Warford, of Harrisburg, Mrs. Boggs, of Indiana, 
Colonel James Cameron, who was killed at Bull Run, and of Daniel, 
who died in the naval service. 

August 23, Reverend Isaac Grier, died at Northumberland. Born 
1763; graduated at Dickinson college in 1788; licensed December 
21, 1 791. He taught the academy, and was father of Honorable 
R. C. Grier, Isaac Grier, D. D., &c. 

John Turner, tailor, of Lewisburg. He left a widow, Elizabeth, 
and daughters, Christena and Matilda. 

Jacob Wolfe, of Buffalo, leaving a widow, Catherine, and chil- 
dren, Catherine, Elizabeth, Jacob, John, Jonathan, and Samuel. 

August :^9, Adam Laughlin, of Hartley township, aged sixty -six. 

Wendell Baker, of East Buffalo. Children : John, Jacob, Mrs. 
Mathias Alsbach. Grandchildren : John and Ann Mizener. 

October 14, Paul Collins, of West Buffalo, aged seventy-nine. 

Adam Struble, of West Buffalo. 




i8i^. 



Courts held in New Berlin — Union Township Erected — St. Peter's 
Church, Kelly — Death of Captain William Gray, of Buffalo. 




CT 8th March provided that after the first Monday of 
May, the courts should be held at New Berlin, in the 
court-house, provided a full and sufficient deed be made, 
for the consideration of sixty-seven cents, to the com- 
missioners, before the first Monday in April, for the court-house 
and lot. The original receipt for sixty-seven cents may be seen in 
the commissioner's office, at Lewisburg. nth March, Washington 
township annexed to Lycoming. — P. L., 119. April i, Hugh Mc- 
Laughlin's land, in Kelly, was sold to John Gotshall for ^36 per 
acre, and the Japhet Martin place. East Buffalo, now Frederick's, 
appraised at ^48. 15th April, Reverend C. Newcomer arrived at 
Michael Maize's. "On i6th preached at Martin Dreisbach's, 17th 
at George Miller's, and on the i8th had a long conversation with 
Messrs. Miller and Niebel on the union of our respective societies, 
but we could not bring it about." 



Union Township Erected. 

September sessions, upon the report of Andrew McLenachan, John 
Hayes, and Adam Wilt, Union township was erected, with the fol- 
lowing boundary : Beginning at a double walnut, on the West 
Branch, (below Jenkins' mill,) S. 73° W. 3 miles 100 perches to 
stones on the top of Shamokin ridge ; along same, S. 75° W. 3 miles 
ID perches, to chestnut oak ; N. 150 W. i mile 200 perches to top of 

42g 



430 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1815. 



Limestone ridge; S. 75° W. 2 miles 100 perches to line between 
Buffalo and West Buffalo ; along same, S. 150 perches to head of John 
Stees' spring ; thence down same and Switzer run to Penn's creek ; 
down Penn's creek to the line between Buffalo and Penn's ; thence 
along the same to the river ; thence up the river to the mouth of 
West Branch ; thence up West Branch to beginning. 

St Peier's Lutheran Church, in Kelly. 

On the 4th of November, Christian Zerbe and George Reininger, 
trustees in the conveyance made by Jacob Lotz, executor of Philip 
Stahl, granted, permitted, allowed, and confirmed the full right, 
liberty, and privilege unto the members of the Presbyterian con- 
gregation (German Reformed) of White Deer township, in common 
with the members of the Lutheran congregation of, in, and to the 
aforesaid premises and church, when built, in consideration of the 
German Reformed congregation contributing to the purchase of the 
lot and building of the house, &c. 

Marriages. 

Daniel Shannon with Christena Pross, February 23. March 23, 
Samuel Strickland with Elizabeth Turner. April 2, Jonathan Ranck 
with Catherine Long, daughter of Joseph. May 30, Jacob Wehr 
with Margaret Sassaman. June 25, Jacob Rees and Elizabeth Wil- 
liamson, in presence of her brother, Gideon. September 3, Elisha 
Barry with Elizabeth Herbst, daughter of Henry. October 12, 
George Mook with Julia Fastnock, daughter of Adam. All by 
Henry Spyker, Esquire. 

Deaths. 

4th April, Catherine, wife of John Dreisbach, born nth March, 
1785. Married i8th April, 1811. nth April, Elizabeth, wife-of 
William Wilson, aged fifty-seven. June 27, John Freedly, (miller,) 
' ' found this morning lying in a water sluice, in his meadow, dead. 
George Knox, George Schnable, John Lawshe, senior, George 
Metzgar, Henry Colway, Philip Lesher, Alexander Graham, George 



1815.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 431 

Kremer, Robert Smith, Alexander Morton, Jonathan Spyker, and 
James Knox, a jury empaneled, found he came to his death by acci- 
dent, and not by violence." (He was the owner of Ludwig Derr's 
mill.) 

Captain William Gray, one of the first settlers in the Valley, 
died. His children were : Sally, Mrs. Mary Dunlap ; Susanna, mar- 
ried first to William Hudson, after his death, to Andrew Forster ; 
Eleanor, to John Robinson ; Margaret, to John Hayes, Esquire ; 
Nancy, widow of Hudson Williams ; Jane, widow of William Wal- 
lace, married to Samuel Hutchinson. 

Hugh McLaughlin, White Deer. He lived, adjoining William 
Clingan's, owning a farm of seventy acres. His children : James 
Eleanor, wife of William Cameron, Esquire; Hugh, who recently 
(1871) died at Lewisburg, and Margaret, who died unmarried. 

Japhet Morton, East Buffalo. Children : Edward, William, John, 
Alexander, Isabella, married to Thorrt&s McGuire, and Rachel and 
four grandchildren, sons of Thomas, deceased: Martha, Betsey, 
Polly, and Japhet. 

November i. Christian Nevius, aged fifty-six. He left a widow, 
Lucretia, who died January 19, 1841, aged seventy-five. Children: 
Peter, John, Ann, Ralph, Aaron, Elizabeth, Phoebe, and Sarah. 




i6. 




Henry Shaup's Newspaper — Susquehanna Bible Society Formed — 
Lewisburg Bridge Built — A New Church at Cross-Roads — Pres- 
idential Election — Simon Snyder's Letter to George Kremer — 
Judge Cooper Transfered to the University of Pennsylvania. 

TEMS taken froift Henry Shaup's Union Newspaper — 
Markets in Philadelphia: wheat, ^2.20; rye, ^1.45 ; 
corn, ^1.50; butter, 14 cents pound. 

Proposals are published by JFrederick Gutelius, James 
Dale, and John Bower, county commissioners, for building the jail. 
Israel Inman was the principal store-keeper in New Berlin. George 
Spring notifies all persons having lots in the town of Springfield, to 
come forward on the ist of April, and lift their deeds or give up 
their tickets. James Merrill, practicing law at Mr. Maurer's, op- 
posite the New Berlin hotel. William Poak kept hotel at Hartle- 
ton. John 'Grove's vendue at New Berlin. James Monroe and 
Daniel D. Tompkins nominated for President and Vice President, 
by the Republican members of Congress. Simon Snyder had thirty 
votes in caucus for Vice President. Aaron Chamberlin elected col- 
onel, vice George Weirick, resigned. Philip Franck, watch-maker. 
New Berlin. George Eisenhuth, merchant. William Dale and 
John Leany, executors of Samuel Fisher, of White Deer, advertise 
his land on White Deer creek for sale. A public market held in New 
Berlin on the 20th of June, continuing three days, for the purpose 
of selling horses, horned cattle. " Here the weary peddler was in- 
vited to repose a few days, with his pack, and at the same time vend 
jewelry to his advantage ; the lovers of music and dancing, to spend 
the careless hours in pleasure. Boxers and gamblers are not invited, 

432 



1816.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 433 

but may attend at their own risk." A bear beat is also advertised 
as one of the attractions. An association formed to suppress horse- 
racing, Abbot Green, treasurer. John Sargeant and Robert Smith 
were brought before Henry Spyker, Esquire, who fined them ^20 
each. He notes in his docket that "the judges of Union county say 
this is wrong, and have reversed my proceeding. After this, the 
judges may fine the horse-racers themselves." 

July 23, Ann Smith, alias Carson, arrested above Harrisburg, 
with two companions, who called themselves Owen Jones and Na- 
thaniel B. Bard. She had formed plains to abduct the Governor, 
and extort by violence a pardon of Richard Smith, convicted of the 
murder of Captain Carson, or, failing in this, to seize some member 
of his family. 

Susquehanna Bible Society formed at Milton, John B. Patterson, 
president; vice presidents. Reverend Thomas Hood and Judge An- 
drew Albright. Shaup thus notices the demise of the The Advocate 
of the Union, Hugh Maxwell's paper : " Union county has lost an 
Advocate, Saturday, 27th September, after a lingering illness of one 
year and seven months. The remains, we understand, have been 
removed to Belief onte." 

August 24. Adam Wilt made a plan of New Berlin, showing the 
original as laid out by George Long, and the additions made by 
Christopher Seebold, Christian Miller, Henry Gross, Alexander 
and James Beatty. This plan was signed by the lot owners of New 
Berlin, and recorded as the proper plan of the place. Deed book 
" C, " page 198. 

Improvements. 

15 th March, supplement to the Lewisburg bridge charter passed, 
authorizing the Governor to subscribe four hundred shares for the 
State. June 19, the company organized. July 4, contract made 
with Reuben Fields for the erection of the bridge for $52,600. 
$2,400 was afterwards allowed, in addition to the contract price. 
The jail at New Berlin was erected this year by Frederick Hippie, 
of Centre township. Contract price, $4,000. The stone furnished 
by Henry Gross, at twelve and a half cents per perch, measured in 
the wall. 23d February, Buffalo Cross-Roads congregation met, 
William Clingan called to the chair, James McCIellan, secretary, 
28 



434 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1816. 

and resolved to build a stone meeting-house, sixty by thirtf-five. 
The trustees altered it to fifty-two by forty ; four rows of seats, and 
pulpit in the end. Jacob Hartman contracted to do all the carpen- 
ter work and painting for ^625. William McLaughlin to do the 
mason work at seventy-five cents per perch. This stone church 
stood within the limits of the present grave-yard, north-west corner. 
The corner-stone was laid on the 23d day of July. It was com- 
pleted by the 29th of December, when Mr. Dunham preached the 
first sermon in the new church, from Nehemiah, iv : 6 : " For the 
people had a mind to build." 19th March, 181 7, Mr. Hood 
preached the first sermon in the new pulpit. Text, John, vi : 38 
and 39, showing the reasonableness of the doctrine of predestina- 
tion. 27th April, Peter Burg conveyed to Conrad Philips and John 
Walters, a lot on Walnut street and Apple Tree alley, in New Berlin, 
for a grave-yard for the use of the Union County Evangelical Asso- 
ciation. 

At the October election, the candidates for Congress were George 
Kremer, WilHam Wilson, David Scott, Charles Maus, and Captain 
William F. Buyers. William Wilson and David Scott were elected. 
At this election, one thousand six hundred and twelve votes were 
polled. Democratic majority nearly seven hundred and fifty. At 
the November election, Monroe and Tompkins received six hundred 
and one votes, against one hundred and two for the opposition or 
Independent Republican ticket, on which were the the names of 
Andrew Gregg, Christian Brobst, Daniel Montgomery, and others, 
as electors. 

October 1 1 , Reverend C. Newcomer arrived again in the Valley ; 
preached at old Mr. Eyers'. 12th, at Mr. Dreisbach. Sunday, 13th, 
had meeting in the forenoon and at night. 14th, conference of the 
Albright brethren commenced. 15th, attended a funeral at Mr. 
Gilmore's; at night preached at Solomon Betz's. i6th, preached at 
Youngmanstown and lodged at Mr. Corl's. Mail arrives at New 
Berlin once a week. 

Extracts from a letter from Governor Snyder to George Kremer, 
24th November : "I should like much to see you pitted against that 
arch fiend, Lieb, in the House of Representatives; but unless Brobst 
resigns, I cannot see how the Speaker could constitutionally issue a 
writ for the election of another. A writ of lunacy could be awarded 



1816.] . ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 435 

by tire court of Union county, and thereupon a writ might issue for 
a new election. The people might memorialize the House, that, 
through mental derangement, the act of God, one of their Repre- 
sentatives is disqualified to represent the wisdom of the county. 
This, accompanied by certificates from regular-bred physicians — 
Doctors Dougal, Vanvalzah, &c. — would undoubtedly bring the ques. 
tion fairly before the House, and a precedent established in his case, 
if there is not one already, in this country or in England. But, if 
he has any interval of sanity, this might be embraced to procure his 
resignation. Thus all difficulty would be removed, and make room 
for your election, which, I suppose, would be certain, if the Longs- 
town interest does not oppose you. Whatever may be done, it will 
be all-important to keep out of view his having been mad before his 
election, or that the people were so who elected him." 

The letter refers to Jacob Brobst, who became insane. He lived 
just above Mififlinburg, where he died. The path the poor old man 
tramped in his fearful spells and struggles was visible many years 
after his death. 

December 6. Judge Thomas Cooper, late professor at Dickinson 
College, Carlisle, was elected professor in the University of Penn- 
sylvania. 

Marriages. 

1 7th January, Daniel Shriner with Catherine Funston, daughter 
of William. June 6, John Hayes with Jane McFadden, daughter 
of John. June 23, Titus Kemp with Betsey Huntingdon, in pres- 
ence of her cousin, Gabriel. £0 die, William Francis, widower, 
with Catherine Gettig, widow. November 7, Henry Moyer with 
Polly Strickland. December 19, John Walters with Susanna Moyer, 
daughter of John, in presence of her brother, Peter. December 31, 
by Reverend J. H. Fries, Jacob Strayer to Rachel Harmony, of 
New Berlin. In August, John Johnston, (painter,) of New Berlin, 
to Elizabeth Kress, by H. Yearick, Esquire. 

Deaihs. 

9th March, Mrs. Elizabeth Weirick, wife of Colonel George Wei- 
rick, aged thirty-six. 



Vj^ 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1817. 



Peter Bower, East Buffalo, aged sixty-eight. 

Killian Dunkle, East Buffalo. 

John Hoover, of West Buffalo. Children : George, Jacob, Ann, 
Mary, Elizabeth, Catherine, Susan, and Christena. 

Philip Gebhart. Widow : Mary. Children : Jonathan, George, 
John, Henry, Michael, Elizabeth, Sally, and Mary. 

Daniel Rees, of Buffalo, left widow, Catherine, and children, 
Catherine and George W. 

October 15, Thomas Sutherland, father of Mrs. Doctor Thomas 
Vanvalzah, aged eighty-four. (His widow, Jane, died July 9, 1819, 
aged eighty-two.) 



181^. 




Political — Election Returns — Lewisburg Bridge — Henry Spyker^^ 
Esquire — Colonel William Chamberlin. 

|OHN SNYDER, United States Collector Internal Rev- 
enue. Postmasters : Lewisburg, A. Graham ; New Ber- 
lin, James Merrill ; Mifflinburg, John Orwig ; Hartle- 
ton, James Madden. Republican Standing Committee, 
Henry Yearick, James Geddes, and P. F. Deering. 19th February, 
Democratic Republican Convention held at New Berlin. John 
Gross, president ; Henry Yearick, secretary. Ner Middleswarth 
and James Dale appointed delegates to the State Convention, and 
William Findlay, of Franklin, recommended for Governor. 4th 
March, William Findlay nominated at Harrisburg, and Joseph 
Hiester by the Independent Republicans, at Carlisle. June 19, 
Stephen Hughes, chairman, John Mauck and Lewis Bertram secre- 
taries of the Hiester meeting, held at the house of John Solomon, 
in New Berlin. July 12, Findlay meeting held at New Berlin; 
John Wilson, president ; James Geddes and Christopher Seebold 
secretaries. Vigilance committees : Hartley, Adam Wilt and Henry 



1817.1 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



437 



Roush : West Buffalo, Michael Schoch, John Dreisbach, Christo- 
pher Johnston, John Ray, and Robert Forster ; East Buffalo, James 
Dale, John Reber, Andrew Reedy, and George Knox ; White Deer, 
Colonel Aaron Chamberhn, A. McClenachan, Major John Ranck, 
and Dan Caldwell ; Union, Alexander Boveard, Michael Waggoner, 
Jacob Kline, and William Kessler. loth September, convention 
at New Berlin ; John Orwig, chairman; Isaac Mertz, secretary. Jo- 
seph Hiester nominated for Governor. Assembly, Fred Stees and 
Joseph Stillwell ; commissioner, Mishael Lincoln ; auditor, Samuel 
Baum. Delegates: Union, George Eisenhuth ; Hartley, Abbot 
Green and William Reed ; West Buffalo, John Orwig and Daniel 
Reeser ; East Buffalo, Christian Sterner and William Hayes. 20th 
September, General Adam Light nominated by the Independents 
for Congress. 

ELECTION BETUIiNS. 



DISTRICTS. 



Union, . . , 
East Buffalo, , 
West Buffalo, 
White Deer, . 
Hartley, . . , 
Beaver, . . . 
Centre, . . , 
Perry, . . . 
Free burg, . . 
Penn's, . . . 



GOV'NR. CONG'SS, 



192 
116 
173 

45 
103 
171 
204 

92 
163 
248 



145 

222 

115 

200 

108 

70 

35 

39 

49 

35 



192 

96 

173 



141 
229 
114 
23i 218 
99 111 
71 



3 

48 
156 
182 



232 

48 
55 
49 



Total, . ■ . . . 1507 1018 972 1268 1405 1890 1116 1096 1320 1011 



ASSEMBLY. 



167 

102 
173 

43 
101 
162 
192 

70 
157 
238 



184 

98 

167 

43 

87 

159 

186 

67 

157 

242 



165 

236 

123 

202 

110 

79 

47 

59 

51 

44 



152 

228 

116 

201 

113| 

79 

46 

68 

53 

40 



comm'r. 



134 
111 
172 

37 
102 
167 
104 

87 
160 
246 



141 

219 

113 

204 

109 

68 

35 

45 

50 

33 



February 6, prices in Philadelphia: Wheat, $3 per bushel; rye, 
$1.60; corn, ^1.70. February 13, Methodist church, at New Ber- 
lin, dedicated. A great assemblage of people. Over two hundred 
sleds and sleighs. March 13, ice broke on the river, and obstructed 
the stages. 9th August, Limestone Run bridge, in the town of Mil- 



438 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1817. 

ton, swept out, with large portions of the road, by a sudden freshet 
in that stream. 

Lewisburg Bridge. 

November i, superstructure up, and teams cross the Lewisburg 
bridge. James Lee, the old tavern-keeper, at Northumberland, in 
a suit, Burrz/j. McCay, 6 Barr, 149, about the " Burr bridge patent," 
testified to the following facts, in regard to the building of this bridge 
and others on the Susquehanna : 

"In May, 181 6, Theodore Burr was at my house, in Northum- 
berland, and I asked him whether he proposed attending the letting 
of the Lewisburg bridge. He said he had enough bridges on hand, 
and recommended Reuben Fields as a first-rate builder, who worked 
with him on the Harrisburg bridge. I went to Harrisburg, got an 
introduction to Mr. Fields, who came to Lewisburg the week fol- 
lowing, to look at the points for material, contiguous to the site. A 
few days before the letting, he brought up a plan and draft for the 
bridge. Theodore Burr advised Fields and myself to build on that 
plan. We presented the plan to the company on the 3d of July, 
1816, together with our proposals. The day following, Mr. Hep- 
burn drew the contract between the Lewisburg Bridge Company, 
Fields, and myself, and on the 7th we commenced excavating the 
foundation for stone-work. In September we had got up two piers, 
and the two abutments half way. - Mr. Fields came up that fall, and 
commenced the wood-work. Early the next spring one of the 
reaches was up, and another part raised on the east side," &c. 

Theodore Burr commenced building the Northumberland bridge 
in 1 8 1 2 . Finished it in two years. In 1 8 1 4 he commenced the Har- 
risburg bridge, and finished it in two or three years. 

Marriages. 

February 20, by Henry Spyker, Esquire, Peter Long to Sarah, 
daughter of Jacob Moore. June 19, by Reverend J. H. Fries, Samuel 
Roush, Esquire, to Miss Elizabeth Dunkle. September 9, by Rev- 
erend Peter Kessler, Jacob Alter to Miss Ann Kessler. October 24, 
George Mitchel to Eliza Anderson. May 22, by Reverend John 
Patterson, Andrew McBeth to Ann Linn. 



1817.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 439 

Deaths. 

February 6, Enoch Smith, Esquire, attorney-at-law, Sunbury, 
Pennsylvania. February 19, Flavel Roan, Esquire, born July 31, 
1760. Son of the Reverend John Roan, and brother of Mrs. Clingan. 
He was buried in the Presbyterian grave-yard, at Lewisburg, near 
the pavement, a little east of the present church. The grave being 
immarked, it was lost sight of when the church was built. March 1 7 , 
Elizabeth, wife of Reverend J. G. Heim, born April 1 7, 1 776. April 
17, Elias Youngman, born August 15, 1738. Married, January 11, 
1763, to Catherine Nagle. His children were: George, father of 
Elias, of Jersey Shore ; Thomas, who died, (Thomas' widow married 
Robert Forster,) and Catherine, married to. John Dreisbach. Elias 
Youngman was a hatter, in Sunbury, in 1775. Moved into the Val- 
ley in 1783. April 27, Jacob Dunkle, who bought the Heberling 
mill at sheriff's sale, as the property of Captain John Bergstresser, was 
killed near Bear Gap, as he was coming home with the team from 
Philadelphia. His horses ran off, and the wagon wheels passed over 
his head, killing him instantly. He was the grandfather of Charles 
C, of Lewisburg. He left a family of seven sons and five daughters. 
He was married, November 24, 1789, to Ann C. Shoemaker. 

July I, Henry Spyker, Esquire. His children were: Mrs. Alex- 
ander Graham, Jonathan Spyker, &c. He was a son of Peter Spy- 
ker, who was president of the courts of Berks county in 1780. The 
Spykers, Christs, Kadermans, &c., came over with Conrad Weiser to 
New York, in 17 10, from a place called Herrenburg, in Wurtemberg, 
Germany. In .1729, they all removed together to Tulpehocken, 
where Henry Spyker was born, 29th August, 1753. He was adju- 
tant, in 1776, of a militia regiment on duty at Amboy, New Jersey, 
where he heard the thunder of the battle on the 25 th, 26th, and 
27th. His manuscript journal is yet in the possession of his grand- 
daughter, Mary Spyker, at Lewisburg, together with many valua- 
ble papers, a complete file of almanacs from 1756 down. He was 
paymaster of the militia from October i, 1777, to July 27, 1785, 
during which he disbursed ^^122, 847 js. 6d., and accounted satis- 
factorily for every cent. He was afterwards member of Assembly for 
Berks, 1788-90. In 1797, when Jonathan was twelve years old, 
just the'age of Lewisburg, he removed to Lewisburg, where he en- 



44° ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1817. 

gaged in store-keeping for a few years ; was then appointed a justice, 
which office he exercised until within a few days of his death. He 
used to tell of two Germans of the Valley, who came to his office 
to make some sale, and have a note written, and when through, the 
party who was to have the note told the other to keep it, and he 
could then know when it was due, and come and pay him. 

August 21, Colonel William Chamberlin. He came from Hun- 
terdon county. New Jersey, where he was born, September 25, 1736. 
He served as lieutenant colonel in second regiment. Colonel David 
Chambers, his commission bearing date 9th September, 1777, in 
November of which year, by order of Governor Livingston, he 
was directed to call on Messrs. Penn and Chew, at the Union iron- 
works, to conduct them to Worcester, Massachusetts, and deliver them 
to the Council of that State. He was also directed to purchase, in 
Connecticut or Massachusetts Bay, twenty thousand flints for the 
Council of New Jersey. He participated in the battle of Mon- 
mouth, 28th June, 1778, where his eldest son Lewis was killed by a 
cannon ball. He moved into our Valley in 1793, and on the i6th 
of August, 1794, married his fourth wife, Mary Kemble. He was 
the father of twenty-three children, fifteen of whom were born in 
New Jersey. Of his children, Nelly married John Lawshe, senior ; 
Ann, John Ross ; Lucretia, Christian Nevius ; William, Enoch, 
Tenbrooke ; Sarah, married to James Wilson ; Uriah • Elizabeth, 
married to William McCreery ; Aaron, came with him. His fourth 
wife's children were : John, James, I^ewis, Mary Frances, married 
to John Linn; Joseph P., James D., and Moses, the latter still resid- 
ing at Milton. 

James Marshall, of White Deer. 





1§1§. 




Delawares and Shawanese Remove West of the Mississippi. 

ILLIAM FINDLAY, Governor. 

February 8, prices current in Philadelphia : flour, 
^lo per barrel ; wheat, $i 80 ; rye, 95 cents. 9th, the 
first toll was taken on the Lewisburg bridge. On the 
5 th and 6th of May, David Yoder had the town of New Columbia 
surveyed and laid out in streets and lots. During this summer, the 
Christian chapel, a frame building on Fourth street, between St. 
John and St. Anthony, in Lewisburg, was erected. 

I note, September 17, the treaty by which the Delawares and 
Shawanese cede their lands in Ohio and Indiana, and agree to take 
locations on the Arkansas river. The Delawares resided principally 
on Stony creek, a branch of the Maumee ; the Shawanese on the 
Auglaize river, where it empties into the Maumee, in north-western 
Ohio. 

The election this fall did not manifest any material change in the 
political situation of the State. Ex-Governor Simon Snyder was 
elected Senator from Northumberland, Union, &c., without any 
opposition. 

Marriages. 

Among marriages are : February 24, James Dale to Eliza Bell, of 
Hanover, Dauphm county. June 11, John Snyder, Esquire, to 
Miss Mary Kittera, daughter of late Honorable John Wilkes Kit- 
tera, deceased. November 4, Lieutenant R. H. Hammond, fifth 
U. S. infantry, to Miss Eliza C. Gloninger, of Lebanon. 

44r 



442 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1819. 



Deaihs. 

Among deaths: March 30, Christopher Weiser, East Buffalo, aged 
sixty-one. May 25, Sarah Barber, wife of Robert, aged sixty-five. 



1819. 




Difficulty in Mr. Fries" Church — Bank Suspensions. 

|HIS year is noted in our religious history for Mr. Fries' 
difficulty in his Miffiinburg congregation. It assumed 
such proportions that the Synod recommended that he 
should withdraw from Miffiinburg and take charge of 
the eight congregations at Middle creek. He came home from 
Synod, called a meeting of the elders of Penn's, Brush Valley, New 
Berlin, Dreisbach's and Miffiinburg, before whom he invited his 
accusers to appear. It appears they had circulated a story that, on 
Easter Sunday, he had conducted himself as if he were intoxicated. 
The elders pronounced him innocent. Their report is signed, Adam 
Harper, president ; Adam Neidig, secretary ; John Brown, Henry 
Herbst, John Zeigler, John Philip Meyer, Frederick Gutehus, John 
Ray, Sebastian Whitmer, Elias Youngman, and John Dreisbach, 
elders. 

In August, the Northumberland, Union, and Columbia Bank, at 
Milton, stopped payment. Its notes in circulation were ^55,000, 
and the debts due to the institution amounted to ^190,000. Manu- 
factures having broken down in the country, bank notes necessalrily 
flowed in large quantities to Philadelphia and Baltimore for the pur- 
chase of goods and the payment of debts. City banks had plenty 
of their own paper, and, therefore, would not take them ; or, if they 
did, forwarded them forthwith for redemption. The result followed. 



1819.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 443 

the country banks had to suspend. This was the case with the Read- 
ing Bank, Northampton Bank, &c. 

Among the deaths this year were : Henry Iddings, aged ninety- 
two, leaving ten children. John Boal, of White Deer; his family 
were Elizabeth, married to Matthew Laird ; Mary, to John Reznor ; 
Sophia^, to Samuel Woods ; Margaret ; Nancy, to J. Foster Wilson, 
of Hartleton. 

Domestic. 

The use of the tomato, as" an edible, is noted. Prior to this, the 
plant was cultivated for ornament. 

The large stone house in Lewisburg, now occupied by Mark Half- 
penny, was built by William Hayes. 

Governor Simon Snyder. 

Governor Simon Snyder died at Selinsgrove, November 9, at 
three, a. m., aged seventy years and four days. His remains rest in 
the old grave-yard, at Selinsgrove, under a marble slab, without any 
inscription. His father was a mechanic, who had emigrated from 
Germany to Lancaster, where the Governor was born. In July, 
1784, he removed to Northumberland county, and settled at Selins- 
grove, where he opened a store, and became the owner of a mill. 
He soon became useful as a scrivener, and as a friend of the poor 
and distressed. He was soon elected justice of the peace, in which 
capacity he officiated for twelve years. (Justices then presided in 
the county court.) So universally were his decisions respected, that 
there never was any appeal from any judgment of his to the court, 
and but one writ of certiorari was served upon him during that time. 
His political record is spread forth on the foregoing pages of these 
Annals. Mention will, therefore, be made here of only a few inci- 
dents of his public life. With him originated the arbitration prin- 
ciple, first incorporated, with other wholesome provisions, for the 
adjustment of controversies brought before justices of the peace, 
called the hundred-dollar act. After a few years' experience, this 
salutary principle was ingrafted upon our judiciary system. Gen- 
eral Abner Lacock was his coadjutor in these measures. His con- 



444 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1819. 

duct during the war of 1812 was patriotic, and worthy of a Gov- 
ernor of Pennsylvania. His son John, afterwards the Honorable 
John Snyder, of the thirteenth district, then a boy of nineteen, raised 
a company, and marched with them as captain tg Baltimore. They 
arrived at Harrisburg before daylight, and were halted before the 
Governor's door. He arose from his bed, and welcomed them, and 
with stirring words complimented their bravery. He always said, 
in speaking of the circumstance, he never before had felt so proud 
of his son John. 

During the session of 1813-14, a very large majority of both 
Houses passed the bill to charter forty banks. The candidate for 
Governor was at that time nominated by the members of the Leg- 
islature. When they came into caucus, it was remarked that the 
bank bill was then before the Governor, and that it would be 
prudent to make no nomination till it was seen whether he would 
sanction it. Within three days. Governor Snyder returned the bill, 
with his objections, and it did not pass that session. His independ- 
ence was the theme of universal praise, and he was that year re- 
elected by an immense majority. Having served out the consti- 
tutional term, he returned to Selinsgrove, and at the next general 
election was made State Senator, and served one session. 

The crowning glory of Governor Snyder's career was his Chris- 
tianity. In religious culture he was a Moravian, and in public station 
he never forgot his vows or neglected his religious duties. His heart 
went out at all times in deeds of kindness to the poor and unfortu- 
nate. He was long mourned with sincere grief by them, and the 
few old people still surviving, tell how tenderly it was manifested 
when he was buried out of their sight. 

His letters to his children are very affectionate, and full of good 
advice. I quote^ from one to his daughter, Amelia, afterwards Mrs. 
Jenks, dated the 30th of January, 1813 : 

" I hope the practice I recommended, of reading by the boys in 
the evening, has been adopted, and the reading of a chapter in the 
New Testament or one of Blair's sermons on a Sunday, when there 
is no worship in our church. When there is, and the weather is 
tolerable, I trust you and all the boys attend. Your ensample may 
influence them. I would advise you to set apart, say two hours 
each day, for reading, and endeavor to store in your mind all that 



1819.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 445 

is worth recollecting. Write to me when you have an opportunity, 
or rather write when anything occurs to your mind worth com- 
municating, and then you will be ready, and not hurried, when an 
opportunity offers. This is my method, or I never could get through 
half my business." 

His parental tenderness and his earnest desire for the conversion 
of his children is the burden of many of his letters. From one, 
dated Harrisburg, 19th January, 1813, I make the following ex- 
tracts : .;■. 

" Dear Child : I have but a few moments time, before the mail 
starts, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th. I 
feel much distressed by your relation of John's state of health. I 
hope that no pains or expense will be spared to restore him. God 
grant that he may recover, and become sensible of the necessity to 
alter his mind, and prove thankful and grateful to God for his 
mercies. His God, from whose hand the thread of his life is sus- 
pended, will hear him, if, with a contrite heart he calls for mercy 
and forgiveness. I write under strong emotions of pain. God have 
him and you all in His holy keeping, is the prayer of your father, 

S. S." 

The Governor's long residence at the seat of government, during 
which he had not the leisure necessary for managing his extensive 
estates, and his liberality to his relatives and friends, had greatly 
embarrassed his affairs. The death of his son Frederick taking place 
at this time, broke his spirit. The powers of the other world soon 
claimed him for its silent fellowship. He is now united with the 
apostles and martyrs, the great and good of all ages, with those he 
so tenderly loved in life, and more than all, with his Saviour. 

Governor Snyder's first wife was Elizabeth Michael, of Lancaster, 
by whom he had two children: Amelia, born 21st June, 1791. She 
was married March 28, 1820, by Doctor Dewitt to Doctor Phineas 
Jenks, member of the House from Bucks county, at Harrisburg. 
Mrs. Elsegood, wife of Reverend J. I. Elsegood, of East New York, 
is the only daughter of Amelia. The Honorable John Snyder, who 
married June 11, 181 8, Mary Louisa Kittera, daughter of Honor- 
able John Wilkes Kittera, of Lancaster, Congressman during the 
administration of General Washington, and until the election of 



44(> ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1819. 

Thomas Jefferson, in 1801, when he died. John Snyder's children 
by his first wife are Miss Mary K. Snyder, postmistress at Selins- 
grove, Mrs. Vandyke, who now hves in Lewisburg, widow of James 
C. Vandyke, Esquire, late United States district attorney for the east- 
ern district of Pennsylvania. Among his children by subsequent mar- 
riage, is Mrs. G. W. Walls, of Lewisburg. Honorable John Snyder 
died at Selinsgrove, August 15, 1850. The children by his second 
marriage were Henry W. Snyder, born 20th July, 1797. He was a 
paymaster in the late war, and died at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 
Of his children, are Mrs. Joseph Musser, of Lewisburg, who has a 
portrait of her grandmother, which is certainly complimentary to the 
Governor's appreciation of beauty. George A. Snyder, a man of 
unmistakable genius, was the second son. His artist aspirations 
were early developed, and he desired his father to send him to Italy ; 
but he insisted upon making a lawyer of him. He never practiced, 
I believe. Taught school for the most part, and died in Williams- 
port on the 6th of July, 1865. During the war, being old and feeble, 
he still insisted upon doing something, and gathered all the news- 
papers that came in his way, cut out the interesting articles, and 
pasting them into small scrap-books, sent them to the hospitals to 
help the sick soldiers while away the tedious hours of sickness. His 
children are Mrs. Mathias App, now of Michigan ; Mrs. Kate Crane ; 
Henry and George S., foundrymen of Williamsport, Pennsylvania; 
Mrs. Riley, Antes and Jesse D., of the same place. 

Antes Snyder,^ who died at Pottstown in December, 1861, where 
his widow, Mrs. Mary B., still resides, (18 71,) was the child Mrs. 
Carson wished to kidnap, in order to obtain from the Governor 
the pardon of Smith. He well remembered how carefully he was 
guarded in door until after the execution of Smith. ' Antes was 
educated at West Point, graduated with high honors, and was soon 
afterwards sent by the Government to England on business con- 
nected with the railway system, then in its infancy here. 

The Governor said, should Mrs. Carson succeed in the abduction 
of his child, the law should, nevertheless, have its course. He was 
spared the trial, but all who knew his stern integrity, felt assured 

' Antes Snyder was the engineer who designed and built the large stone bridges 
over the Schuylkill, at the falls and Peacock's lock, above Reading, and one at 
Schuylkill Haven, and a number of small ones along the line of the Philadelphia 
and Keading railroaa. 



1819.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 447 

that the law would have been honored, even had he been put to so 
severe a test. 

Governor Snyder was married the third time to Mary Slough 
Scott, a widow lady of Harrisburg, i6th October, 181 4. She sur- 
vived him, and died at Harrisburg October 8, 1823. She was a 
member of the Episcopal church, and was the first person who com- 
menced a Sabbath-school in Selinsgrove. She is spoken of as a bril- 
liant woman in society. 

I quote from her letter to Amelia, dated Philadelphia, June 1 1 , 
18 1 8, anticipating Honorable John Snyder's wedding. The gar- 
lands have faded this many a day ; their perfume may still linger 
in some households : 

"My Dear Amelia* At length I have a moment to devote to 
you, on the morning of the important day which is to connect us 
with Mary. At nine o'clock this evening Doctor Wilson will tie the 
knot. Mr. Peacock has stayed for the wedding. The fair brides- 
maids are Mary Smith, Miss Houston, Hannah L. Orme. The 
groomsmen, Shunk, T. Conrad, Thomas and John Kittera. All the 
relatives will be here. The company will consist of about thirty per- 
sons. To-morrow, early, we set out, and will rest at Lancaster on 
Sunday, go to Harrisburg on Monday, and leave that on Thursday 
or Friday for Selinsgrove. I am very anxious about your father. 
Henry writes Mr. Peacock that he was unwell after I left him. I 
hope in God he is now well. Mr. Hemphill gave a dinner for me 
Tuesday. I had twelve of my particular friends to meet me last 
evening. I took tea with Mrs. Watson. She sends much love. It 
is so warm, I am obliged to ride everywhere, and Anthony is very 
accommodating. I long to get home again, and shall enjoy our old 
house more than ever, for this place is intolerably hot. Shunk 
[afterwards Governor Shunk] goes by his father's house, so we shall 
have no beaux. John Kittera cannot go home with us, but will be 
up in a few weeks. Mrs. Hall is still here, but goes home with Mrs. 
Humphrey and her daughter next week. Their new carriage is not 
yet done, and she is almost homesick. Shunk has just come in, and 
desires me to tell you he has tried to behave pretty, and is as polite 
as possible." 



i8^o. 




HILIP MILLER was appointed court crier. He held 
this office thirty-three years, and was succeeded by Ben- 
jamin Shell, in 1853. 

1 6th March, the division line of Mifflin and Union 
directed by act of Assembly^ to be run by a surveyor appointed by 
the commissioners of each county ; otherwise the line run by Peter 
Hackenberg made the line. — P. L. i2>2o, page 82. 

28th March, James Dale, of Union, Jacob Cryder, of Centre, and 
John Hanna, of Lycoming, appointed to run the division line be- 
tween Union and Centre counties. 

In 1819 or 1820, Doctor Grier says, the Associate Reformed 
church, of Mifflinburg, was organized of Buffalo Cross-Roads mem- 
bers, a dissatisfaction having arisen on account of giving up Rouse's 
version, and adopting Watt's version, of the Psalms. James McClel- 
lan, Esquire, and Samuel Templeton were of the elders. James 
McClellan gave up his pew in Buffalo in April, 1820. So it was pro- 
bably in this year. This church was served by the late Doctors 
George Junkin and David Kirkpatrick. In October, 1827, on ap- 
plication of Mr. Kirkpatrick and his congregation, they were received 
into and taken under the care of the Northumberland Presbytery. 
(This congregation is still served by Doctor Grier, although there is 
another Presbyterian church organized at Mifflinburg.) 

Political. 



At the October election for Governor, General Joseph Hiester 
received 1,621 votes, and William Findlay, 1,040 in Union county. 



1820.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



For Congress, Thomas Murray ran against William Cox Ellis. 
4,341 tickets had the name of Thomas Murray on; 3,074 had 
Thomas Murray, junior. Mr. Ellis' vote in the district was 6,526, 
and he received the certificate, but not considering it fair, Mr. Ellis 
resigned in June, 1821, and another election was held that fall. At 
the November election James Monroe carried every State, John 
Quincy Adams receiving only one electoral vote, (in New Hamp- 
shire.) 



Census 1820. 



Penn's, . 
Centre, . 
Beaver, . 
Perry, . 
Washington, 
Mifflinburg, 
West Buffalo, 
Hartleton, . 

Value of leather 



Hartley, 
New Berlin, 
Union, . 
White Deer, 
Lewisburg, 
Buffalo, . 



Total, 
519,200; linseed oil. 



i>239 

515 

1.369 

1,677 

579 
2,376 

18,619 



2,099 
2,094 
2,036 

i>33o 

1,427 
620 
1,183 
75 
manufactures, ^19,200; nnseea oil, ^2,790; 
pottery, $1,050; whisky; corn and rye, used for, 16,000 bushels, 
value, twenty-five to thirty-one cents per gallon. Twenty-two still- 
houses. Wheat manufactured into flour, 23,300 bushels. Fourteen 
mills in operation. For cotton yarn, one hundred and twenty spin- 
dles, one carding machine, one spinning machine. "The whole 
establishment gone to ruin for want of a market. It formerly em- 
ployed four men and rhree boys." 



Notices of Revolutionary Soldiers Residing in the County in 1820. 

Brown, Jonathan, had served three years as a private in Captain 
Elijah Humphrey's company. Colonel William Douglas' regiment, 
and was sixty-two years old. 

Britton, Joseph, enlisted at John Stetler's tavern, in Limerick 
township, Montgomery county, in the spring of 1776, in Captain 
Caleb North's company, of Colonel Anthony Wayne's regiment. 
Captain Frederick Evans testified in his behalf, that he had lived 
forty-three years before with David Evans, whose land joined his 
29 



450 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1S20. 



father's, in Montgomery county; that he recollected of hearing 
Britton had enlisted, and about a year afterwards he came back very 
much emaciated ; that forty-four years had elapsed since he had 
seen Britton, and he was so much altered he had no recollection of 
his person ; but from conversation with him, he had no doubt he 
was the same Joseph that had enlisted with Captain Caleb North's 
company, and marched to Ticonderoga. Britton was, in 1820, 
seventy-one years old, a farmer, and had a wife and two daughters. 

Billman, Dewalt, aged sixty-seven, enlisted at Reading, in Captain 
Jacob Bowers' company. 

Burd, Daniel, seventy-five years old, enlisted at Amboy, Colonel 
James Treddle's regiment ; served five years nine months, except 
three months, when he was at home sick. He was wounded in the 
left thigh at Battle Hill, with two musket balls. He had two sons 
and four daughters, youngest named Anne. 

Bower, George, of White Deer. Pressed in the fall of 1777 as 
teamster; had charge of an ammunition wagon at Valley Forge. 
Drafted in June, 1778; arrived on the field of Monmouth as the 
battle was closing. He received a sword cut on the knee from a 
British soldier who lay in ambush by the road. Recollected of see- 
ing Lafayette at Monmouth. 

Campbell, McDonald, served in Captain John Conway's com- 
pany, Colonel William Wind's New Jersey regiment, thirteen 
months. Re-enlisted in Colonel John Conway's regiment and 
served nine months, and then was detailed by General Green as his 
express rider, and remained such during the war. Was a fifer in 
Captains Conway's and Furman's companies. He married a widow 
Valentine, who had two children, Jesse, aged thirteen, Jane, aged 
ten. His children by her were, Isaac Wilson Campbell, Sally Walls, 
Almeda, Eleanor, and Elizabeth ; latter aged eight months. 

Carney, Anthony, blacksmith, Hartley, enlisted in Orange county. 
North Carolina, served three years. He was sixty-seven in 1820, 
and had no family except his wife, Catherine. 

Clemmens, Peter, private in Captain Stake's company, Colonel 
Butler's regiment, and served two years. He left a daughter, Eliza- 
beth. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1820. 

Campbell, John, (still living in West Buffalo, 1838, and then 
eighty-three years old,) was drafted into the militia from Derry 



1820.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 451 

township; Lancaster county, in 1776, served under Captain Robert 
McKee, arrived at Trenton the day after the capture of the Hessians, 
and went thence to Morristown. Took oath of allegiance before Jacob 
Cooke, Esquire, 2d August^ 1777. In the latter part of 1777, he was 
again drafted, and went to Trenton. Saw British horses and wagons 
brought into camp and sold at auction. His third tour was at the 
close of the war, in a company commanded by Lieutenant James 
Laird. They lay at Chestnut Hill awhile. General Potter and 
Major Stewart had a quarrel there about the treatment of the militia, 
and were on the point of fighting it out with their swords. Camp- 
bell moved to Buffalo Valley in 1777, lived on Captain Gray's farm 
one year^ then moved to another farm of the captain's near James 
Dale's. He lived there seven years, then moved near Buffalo mount- 
ain, then into West Buffalo, where he died. 

Cook, John, private in Captain Herbert's company, from Wom- 
elsdorf, who was taken prisoner at the surrender of Fort Washington, 
exchanged, and appointed ensign in the twelfth. Colonel Cooke's. 
He was unmarried and childless in 1820, seventy-eight years old. 

Coryell, George, was a native of Hunterdon county, New Jersey, 
was born at Coryell's ferry, on the Delaware river, now Lambertville, 
on the 28th of April, 1 761. He entered the army in Captain Craig's 
company of dragoons, in 1776, just after the taking of the Hessians, 
and before the cannonade at Trenton, on the 2d of January, 1777. 
His company marched up the creek, and was in the battle at Prince- 
ton. He was a year with Captain Craig. He was afterwards drafted 
into a company of dragoons, under Lieutenant Reading, in which he 
served one year. He was afterwards drafted into the company of 
Captain Palmer, in which he continued until the fall of 1 780, He 
was only sixteen years of age when he enlisted, and while in Captain 
Craig's company, he was sent, as an express, to Boston, leaving or- 
ders at Danbury and other places on the route. He said there were 
gray-headed men and minors in Craig's company. At one time 
General Washington had his headquarters at his father's house, at 
the ferry, while the army encamped partly in his orchard. The 
British and Hessians got possession of his father's premises at one 
time, and cut the bedding, threw the feathers into the street, and 
burned all the fences on the farm, which lay in common a long tim.e. 
George Coryell was married, in 1790, to a sister of Richard Van 



452 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1820. 



Buskirk, of Mifflinburg, and moved, in 1793, ^^ ^"^^ premises of 
Samuel Maclay, in Buffalo township. He was a carpenter by trade, 
and built many houses in Buffalo Valley, among others, the old 
"Black Horse tavern," at Lewisburg ; of barns, he built the one 
oft Maclay's place, now owned by Joseph Green. In 1 799 he was 
captain of the Buffalo Valley Republican troop, and always rode on 
parade days a sorrel horse that had been wounded at St. Clair's de- 
feat. John Webb, a hatter, father of Colonel Webb, who, some 
years ago, kept hotel in Philadelphia, was first lieutenant of the com- 
pany. Webb lived in Mifflinburg, and moved to Ohio many years 
ago. Coryell was adjutant of Colonel George Weirick's regiment, at 
Marcus Hook, in 1814. He removed to Lycoming county once ; 
then back to Buffalo valley ; then to White Deer valley ; thence to 
Butler county, near Hamilton, where he died, 1837-38. His wife 
soop followed him to the grave. He had four sons, Tunison, John, 
Joseph R., and Abraham, of whom Ttmison, the eldest, and Abra- 
ham, the youngest, alone survive. There were several daughters, 
most of whom ended their days in Ohio and Indiana. Tunison re- 
sides in Williamsport, and occupies the house in which he was mar- 
ried, in 1 81 5, and where his golden wedding was celebrated. 

Derr, Christian, West Buffalo, aged, in 1820, seventy-two. En- 
listed at Reading, in Captain Nagle's company, Colonel Thompson's 
regiment, and served one year ; re-enlisted in November, 1776, in 
Captain Moore's company, Colonel Humpton's regiment, and served 
in the battle of King's Bridge, nth January, 1777, Brandywine, and 
Germantown. In the last action he was wounded, had several ribs 
broken, and was, therefore, discharged. He was a carpenter, and had 
■eleven children. He had three balls in his body, which he carried 
to his grave. His children were Ellis Derr, MifiHinburg ; Samuel, 
Uniontown; Henry, Schellsburg, Bedford county ; Susan, married to 

Jesse Egbert, afterwards David Kline, of Hartley; Polly, to 

Jones, of Sugar valley ; Elizabeth, to William Kepner, moved to 
Venango ; John, Oley township, Berks ; Catherine, to Henry Bar- 
rich ; Christian, junior, who died in Spring township. Centre county, 
in 18152. His children live in and about Bellefonte : Daniel, Rachel, 
married to William Young ; William, in Benezet ; Christian and 
Solomon, in Bellefonte. 

Ewig, Christian, aged sixty, enlisted at Sunbury, in Captain Weit- 



1820.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



453 



zel's company, Colonel Miles' regiment, in April, 1776, served one 
year, nine months, then re-enlisted at Sunbury, in Captain James 
Wilson's First Pennsylvania, Colonel James Chambers, in which he 
served until the close of the war. A wheelwright by trade. 

Kerstetter, George, blacksmith, Washington township, aged sixty- 
four. Served four years in Captain Burkhart's company, Colonel 
Hunsecker's regiment. Children: Jacob and Dorothy. Wife's 
name was Elizabeth. 

Linn, John, aged sixty-five, enlisted in the winter of 1 778, at Lan- 
caster, in third troop, Captain Erasmus Gill, fourth regiment Penn- 
sylvania cavalry. Colonel Stephen Moylan. Discharged in Octo- 
ber, 1783. Had five children ; Robert Bruce, born May 21, 1806 : 
Altha, January 15, 1808; James Smith, October 20, 1811 ; Eliza, 
June 4, 1814; Mary Jane, November 23, i8t6. Weaver by trade. 

Lennox, George, private. Captain Bankson's company. Colonel 
Stewart's regiment. 

Reger, Elias, enlisted in May, 1775, Captain George Nagle's 
company. Colonel Thompson, first rifle regiment. In the siege of 
Boston. Discharged at Long Island, in June, 1776. Cooper by 
trade. Seventy-seven years old. 

Rorabaugh, Philip, Buffalo township, served three months in Penn- 
sylvania line. Captain Slaymaker's company, Colonel Bull's regi- 
ment, while the army lay at Valley Forge. Served also in the cam- 
paign of 1794, known as the whisky insurrection, and three months 
in Captain John Bergstrcsser's company, at Marcus Hook, in 1814. 
This hero of three wars died February 3, 1837, aged eighty-six, and 
is buried in Lewisburg German grave-yard. 

Swesey, Daniel, died in White Deer, 31st January, 1836, leaving 
a widow, Mary. 

Strickland, Timothy, carpenter, Lewisburg^ enlisted in 1776, in 
Berkshire county, Massachusetts, Captain Bacon's company. Colo- 
nel Porter's regiment, and served therein one year. Re-enlisted in 
September, 1777, in Captain Mill's company. New York State line, 
and was honorably discharged after three years' service. Aged in 
May, 1824, seventy- three, but very much crippled. He had four 
sons, (Samuel was a soldier of 181 4.) His grandchildren reside 
still in Lewisburg ; Cyrus, a grandson, in Bellefonte. 

Smith, Adam, was a teamster during the Revolution. He settled 



4^4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1820. 

upon the place now owned by Jacob Kunkle, above Henry Mertz's. 
He died there and was buried at the Dreisbach grav^e-yard. His 
sons were : Adam, George, Michael, and John, and a daughter, 
married to Michael Maize, another to Steffy Touchman. Adam, 
junior, moved to Beaver township, Snyder county. His descend- 
ants are about Beaver town yet. George died in Union county, 
John at Beaver town, and Michael in Union county, in 1841. He 
had a blacksmith shop above Henry Mertz's, and that is the point so 
often spoken of in old road views. Michael's children were Michael, 
who moved to Michigan; Daniel, who moved to Ohio; Benjamin, to 
Illinois; David, now, 1869, living near the old place. His daughters 
married, one to Jonas Nyhart, one to John Wolfe, one to David 
Oldt, near New Berlin. Michael had three wives : first was a Bower, 
of Dry valley ; second, Susanna Bartges, of Mifflinburg ; third, 
Sophia Bickle, whose father, Henry Bickle, was killed by the Indians. 
Michael had also a son Jonathan, father of A. W. Smith, Esquire, 
late jury commissioner, who died in Hartley township, in 1870. 

Yiesely, Michael, aged sixty-seven, enlisted in August, 1776, in 
Captain B. Weiser's company, in Colonel Haussegger's regiment. 
Served during the war, and was discharged in 1783. He had a wife 
and five children, Henry, Catherine, George, Elizabeth, and Maria. 

Deaths. 

June 17, Paschal Lewis, aged sixty. His family: Elizabeth, 
widow, who died August 26, 1828, aged seventy-one. Margaret, 
.married to Thomas Clingan ; Mary, married to Samuel Wright, 
(she is still living in Stephenson county, Illinois ;) Sarah, married 
to James Merrill, Esquire; Elizabeth L., wife of Robert Candor, 
Esquire; Amelia B., married to Samuel Heise, of Columbia. 



^n^AS^Mi5^^^^HoL^lKi(i«^^^!^^^^fii^^^^^ 




Si^^S^S|!BiiiiHMgi^ '- W^X!mM 



18^1. 




Governor Hiester's Appointments — General Items. 

PPOINTMENTS — Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
Andrew Gregg. Auditor General, James Duncan, of 
Carlisle. Samuel Cochran, Chester county, Surveyor 
General. (He held office nine years, under Governor 
Snyder.) James Brady, of Westmoreland, Secretary of the Land 
Office. 

Prices current at Philadelphia, in April : wheat, seventy cents, 
rye thirty-seven, corn thirty-two, butter ten cents per pound, bacon 
seven per pound, whiskey twenty cents per gallon. In July wheat 
advanced to eighty cents ; in October to ninety, and in November 
to $1 50. The other grains proportionably. February 19, '^a comet 
made its appearance in the western horizon. It was seen last even- 
ing between seven and eight o'clock, considerably elevated, and 
could be found by drawing a line due north from the planet Saturn. 
It was but a few degrees from it." On June 8th the locusts made 
their appearance in great numbers in Buffalo Valley. 

The Union county Democratic nominations were Ner Middles- 
warth and James Dale, for Assembly; commissioner, Joseph Fuehrer ; 
auditor, John Maclay ; all opposed to Hiester. The Federal party 
had really gone under, and politics was now confined to tactions in 
the Democratic ranks. Binns and Buchanan appear among the Hies- 
ter men, who are called bank men, and aristocrats, and ''Feds." 
The Findlay papers style themselves indifferently Democrats, Demo- 
cratic-Republicans, and Republicans. 

■fss 



456 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1822. 

In Union county, Thomas Murray, (Findlay^) for Congress, had 
ten hundred and forty-five ; WiUiam Cox Ellis, opposition, eight 
hundred and thirty-six ; and Murray was elected in the district by a 
small majority. The fall election resulted in the choice of a 1 legis- 
lature in opposition to Governor Hiester, which .elected William 
Findlay United States Senator. 

Deaths. 

Among deaths this year were, June 27, Captain William F. Buyers, 
former editor of the Times, Sunbury, aged forty ; and December 7, 
John Baker, of Buffalo, aged sixty-five. 



183^ 




Certain Laws — Newspapers Noticed — Death of William Clingan, 
Esquire, Honorable Andrew Albright, and Henry Pontius. 

|HE act of February 18, Pamphlet Laws, 29, required all 
the original lists of assessments for land situate in Union 
county, to be transmitted to the commissioners of Union 
county, and were made evidence in suits. 
March 21, Lewisburg incorporated as a borough. — {Pamphlet Laivs , 
68.) The election place was fixed at Randall Wilcox's, who kept 
the Black Horse, and John Nesbit and Alexander Graham were ap- 
pointed to superintend the first election. 

March 25, Northumberland and Union placed in the ninth sena- 
torial district, and entitled to two members. 

April 2, Union, Northumberland, Columbia, Luzerne, Susque- 
hanna, Bradford, Lycoming, Tioga, Potter, and McKean placed in 
one congressional district, and entitled to three members, and on 



1822,] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



457 



the same day the borough of Lewisburg was erected into a separate 
election district. 

In January, the prices current in Philadelphia for wheat was ^1.12 ; 
rye, 60 cents; corn, 62 : oats, 30. In April wheat rose to ^r.20, 
and in May it stood at I1.48. 

Nathaniel Henrie bought out the New Berlin Gazette, of Frederick 
Wise, and started the Union Times. May 31, Simon Cameron 
became the junior editor of the Intelligencer at Harrisburg. Hugh 
Maxwell was editing the opposition paper at Lancaster. 

In December, a special election, occasioned by the death of An- 
drew Albright, resulted in the election of Lewis Dewart, Federal, as 
he was called, over Ner Middleswarth and E. G. Bradford, Demo- 
crats, to the State Senate. The vote was light, and stood in the 
district: Dewart, 1192; Middleswarth, 1059; Bradford, 606. 

Marriages. 

At Selinsgrove, March 28, George A. Snyder, Esquire, to Miss 
Ann Ellen, daughter of the late Stephen Duacan. June 1 1, at Lew- 
isburg, by John Nesbit, Esquire, Lewis Moore to Dorothy Smith. 

Deaths. 

January 23, Catherine, widow of Elias Youngman. She was born 
in 1 745, and was a daughter of George Nagel, sheriff of Berks county 
in 1772. May 24, WilHam Clingan, Esquire, of White Deer, aged 
sixty-six. He left a widow, Jane. Children : Margaret, wife of 
Thomas Scott ; Ann, wife of Joseph Lawson ; Thomas; Elizabeth, 
married to Thomas Barber; George, and Flavel. His wife was a 
daughter of Reverend John Roan. They were married June 11, 
1778, and resided on a farm, which is now within the borough 
of Mount Joy, Lancaster county, until their removal to Buffalo Val- 
ley, in 1800. William Clingan, member of Congress from Chester 
county, during the Revolution, was his uncle. August 9, Mary, 
wife of Peter Himmelreich, and daughter of Captain Peter Withing- 
ton, deceased. Born July 18, 1765. Buried in the Dreisbach 
church-yard. 

Tuesday, November 26, Honorable Andrew Albright died at Sun- 



45S ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [182! 



bury, after an illness of three months, in his fifty-third year. He 
was born at Litiz, February 28, 1770. His father's name was An- 
drew ; his mother, Elizabeth Orth, of Lebanon. His first wife was 
a daughter of Melchoir Rahm, a very prominent man in Dauphin 
county. Mr. Albright came to Lewisburg in 1798 and opened a 
tavern where Halfpenny's factory now stands, where he resided until 
he was elected sheriff, when he removed to Sunbury. He was mem- 
ber of Assembly in 1808. His wife died March 9, 1810, and he 
subsequently married the mother of Mrs. John G. Youngman, of 
Sunbury. He was appointed associate judge in 181 3, in place of 
General Wilson, deceased, and had just been elected to the State 
Senate when he died. He was noted for his integrity, and was very 
popular throughout our Valley. He owned Colonel Slifer's upper 
farm on Buffalo creek when he died. He left no children, but 
brothers, Henry, Jacob, Godfrey, and a sister, Susanna, married to 
Philip Backman. An obituary in the Sunbury Enquirer of that 
date concludes: " Society has been deprived of a valuable mem- 
ber, and a wife of an amiable husband. In private life he sustained 
the character of an honest man and christian, and was universally 
beloved. He has held various public and responsible offices, with 
honor to himself and advantage to his fellow-citizens." 

December 13, Henry Pontius. He was born on the 25th of Feb- 
ruary, 1744, came into the Valley as a pioneer at the close of the 
French war, and permanently in 1770. He was a son of John, and 
his brothers were Andrew, Peter, Nicholas, John, junior, George, 
and Frederick. Henry Pontius left a large family : Andrew, born 
June 17, 1770 ; Frederick, June, 1772 ; Henry, December 22, 1773 ; 
Nicholas, 19th April, 1775; Catherine, (King,) 19th May, 1777; 
John, October 8, 1778; George, 13th December, 1780; Peter, 20th 
March, 1783 ; Christena, 12th June, 1785 ; Barbara, June 13, 1787 ; 
Philip, August 15, 1789. The latter died upon the old place on 
Cedar run, a mile east of Mififiinburg, in 1872. He was a fine old 
gentleman, and his excellent memory preserved many incidents 
related in these i^nnals. His remains now moulder with their ances- 
tral dust, in the old burying-ground upon the place. 



1823. 



General Items — Election Returns — Chrtstian Chapel at Lewisburg — 
Kelly Township. 




ARKET quotations in Philadelphia: Wheat, $1 35 ; rye, 
75 cents; butter, 18 cents; whisky, 28 cents. David 
Ramsay carried on a fulling and carding-mill in White 
Deer ; Daniel Moyer at Weiser's old mill in East Buffalo. 
Thomas R. Lewis kept hotel at the sign of " The Lewisburg Stage," 
on Market, above A. Graham's store. 

14th March, first election held under the borough charter of 
Lewisburg : John Nesbit, burgess ; James Geddes, Alexander Gra- 
ham, George Knox, Henry Beck, and William Hayes, council. 3d 
May, meeting of the stockholders of the Lewisburg bridge ; George 
Kremer elected president, and the first dividend of $1 50 per share 
of I50 was declared. 15th May, the Lewistown convention held;' 
Dan Caldwell and John Stees delegates from Union ; Andrew 
Gregg nominated for Governor. 9th August, a Republican meet- 
ing held at New Berlin ; Frederick Evans, president ; Andrew Mc- 
Clenachan and George A. Snyder, secretaries ; in favor of J. A. 
Shulze for Governor. October 4, Simon Snyder, junior, and James 
Dale, candidates on the Shulze ticket for Assembly ; William Hayes 
and Francis A. Boyer on the Gregg ticket ; Uriah Silsby for com- 
missioner on the Shulze ticket, against John Rank. October 5, 
Andrew Reedy, in pursuance of a banter from Major John C. Coverly, 
attended at his house and counted down ^r,ooo, which he offered 
to bet on Shulze's election, and could get no takers. 

4S9 



460 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1823. 



ELECTION BETURNS— October, 1823. 





GOVERNOR. 


ASSEMBLY. 


comm'es. 


DISTRICTS. 




















bJD 


0) 


.^ 


CO 




Si 


. 


>j 






C 


03 


^ 


® 




c 


OS 




u 


jZ 







cS 




c8 









02 


w 


w 


ft 


w 


tf 


. cc 


Centre, .... 


106 


100 


112 


111 


98 


94 


108 


100 


Weirick's, 






26 


74 


29 


30 


72 


70 


26 


74 


Chapman, 






61 


73 


70 


70 


62 


62 


43 


69 


Perry, . . . 






29 


94 


30 


23 


97 


95 


27 


97 


Beaver, . . 






102 


183 


98 


98 


186 


185 


97 


188 


Washington, 






82 


79 


10. 


83 


73 


65 


84 


76 


Penn's, . . . 






132 


183 


135 


145 


175 


165 


134 


179 


Lewisburg, . 






51 


62 


51 


64 


59 


52 


37 


76 


Hartley, . . 






90 


153 


88 


96 


152 


149 


89 


148 


Wliite Deer, . 






77 


210 


66 


83 


223 


211 


41 


250 


East Buffalo, 






62 


209 


60 


71 


209 


102 


55 


215 


West Buffalo, 






144 


164 


141 


45 


168 


151 


136 


171 


Union, . . , 






141 


181 


137 


139 


178 


171 


126 


178 








1103 


1765 


1117 


1058 


1752 


1572 


1003 


1821 



November 15, the stockholders in the German school-house in 
Lewisburg met, and elected Henry Hursh, Charles Beyers, and John 
Martin, trustees, and decided by vote that the trustees should select 
the school-master, instead of the stockholders. This school-house 
was situated on the lot now occupied by the Lutheran parsonage, 
and was erected before 181 2, and kept in repair by subscription. 

14th September, Sabbath, the Christian chapel in Lewisburg was 
opened for worship. Reverend James Kay delivered a sermon on 
the occasion. It will be gratifying to the friends of religious liberty 
and free inquiry to learn that this church has been built upon the 
most liberal principles, and is intended to accommodate all those 

, who acknowledge the divine mission of our Lord Jesus Christ M//- 

tofiian. Elijah Bacon commenced a series of meetings in 1822, 
which resulted in the formation of this congregation. There were 
to be no pews in the church, but Elder Badger, who succeeded him 
before the church was completed, had them put in. George Rich- 
mond became the preacher in 1825. Bacon's points were mainly 
against the discipline of the orthodox, and the church was open to 
all persons for free discussion of religious tenets. 



1823.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 461 



The Times of Saturday, November i, says : "On Friday morn- 
ing last, as Mr. Jacob Yutten, son-in-law of Mr. Royer, of East Buf- 
falo township, in this county, was engaged, with several others, in 
tearing down a log house, to move it a short distance, he fell, and, 
distressing to relate, hit his head again a joist, and mangled it in such 
a manner that he expired immediately after." 

Friday, December 4, the first snow of the season fell. 

Kelly Township fwsl called Pike. 

At December sessions, 1823, Adam Wilt, Christian Miller, and 
George Aurand reported a new township, to be erected from White 
Deer, and called Pike. This report was set aside, at the instance of 
Dan Caldwell, so Flavel Clingan informed me, and new viewers ap- 
pointed, of whom Frederick Evans was one, who finally reported a 
township, to be called Kelly, after Colonel Kelly. 

Marriages. 

1 8th March, John P. Gutelius, of Mifflinburg, to Miss Maria Au- 
rand, of Lebanon. loth yVpril, Conrad Grove, merchant, of New 
Berlin, to Miss Mary Gingerich, of Juniata county. 31st July, by 
Reverend Samuel Gutelius, Michael Hoffman to Lydia Wagner, both 
of White Deer. September 25, by Reverend John Thomas, Jacob 
Wagoner to Rachel, daughter of Thomas McGuire, of White Deer. 




i8^4- 




Kklly-Township ERKCTiiD— Statk Eoad from Bk[.i,kfonte to the Mouth 
OF White Deer Creek — Political — The Clown and Rope Dancer at 
New Berlin — Snyder's Heirs vs. Simon Snyder — Show of Wax Fig- 
ures — Trial of Samuel Johnston. 

REDERICK E VANS to George Kr enter, at Washing- 
ton, D. C. — "3d January. Duncan's wife, of Penn's 
valley, died lately, and Thomas R. Lewis died about the 
same time. Sick since November 8. Solomon Betz and 
Wormly's trial came on last court. Verdict for Wormly, ^195. Betz 
cut scollops until he had the judges and jurors angry. [This is an allu- 
sion to the celebrated trial between Betz and Wormly, about a piece 
of stove-pipe, that lasted many years, and broke up Wormly.] 8th 
February. Yesterday I was over at court, and find we shall send dele- 
gates to Harrisburg, with instructions to vote for General Jackson. 
If we cannot succeed, then to use a sound discretion. My opinion 
would be, to say, if we cannot get Jackson nominated, our delegates 
should withdraw. [He, with others, was getting the grist ready for 
the county convention.] But 1 do not believe such a motion would 
carry, if made. I spoke with Middleswarth. He says he is for Jack- 
son, but will support the congressional caucus man. I think if a 
caucus cannot be prevented, the friends of Jackson should attend, 
but not pledge themselves to a foul nomination. I saw Dan Cald- 
well. He says McClenachan is opposed to Jackson, and one Reed, 
and they are all the opponents he has in the township^ [White Deer,] 
if Caldwell tells the truth." 

Kelly township was erected during this year. After careful search, I 

462 



1824] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 463 

could not find the record. The first constable, however, was Albright 
Bower, who attended at May sessions, 1825. 

On the 29th of March, an act was passed to lay out the State road 
from Bellefonte, by way of Sugar valley, to the river, at the mouth 
of White Deer creek. 

Political. 

September 17, the Democratic-Republican convention met at New 
Berlin, John Snyder, president ; William Linn, secretary. Kremer, 
Montgomery, and McKean nominated for Congress ; Aaron Cham- 
berlin and F. P. Deering for Assembly. 

5th October, Independent-Republican meeting, Joseph Musser; 
chairman ; Mathew Brewer, secretary. Peter Hackenburg and James 
McClellan nominated for Assembly ; George Weirick for commis- 
sioner. At the conferee meeting, on the 21st of September, Mc- 
Kean, Kremer, and Espy Van Home were nominated. 

In November, Union county gave seven hundred majority for An- 
drew Jackson, twenty-six votes for Crawford, two for Clay. 

Social. 

The following are the names of a dancing party at Mrs. Gross 
man's tavern, in New Berlin, on the evening of February 12 : John 
Lashells, Esquire, and wife, James Merrill, Robert Forster, John 
Mumma, Nathaniel Henrie, Henry M. W. Kirke, Elias P. Young- 
man, Robert P. Maclay, Confad Grove, John Maize, George Shock, 
John Seebold, John Lotz, James F. Linn, Mrs. Henrie, Elizabeth 
Jones, Sarah Messimer, Catherine Jones, Mrs. Grove, Ehzabeth 
Brooke, Margaret Kessler, Mary L. Duncan, Sarah Weikert, Mar- 
garet C. Lashells, Eleanor C. Lashells, Elizabeth S. Stillwell, Eliza- 
beth Winters, Sarah A. Ingram. John Mumma and James F. Linn 
were managers. 

It was a Buffalo Valley custom, on wedding occasions, to welcome 
the bride with a party composed of elderly folks. Here is a list, 
Wednesday night, October 20 : Colonel John Kelly, Elizabeth 
Kelly, Doctor Robert Vanvalzah, Elizabeth Vanvalzah, William 
Poak, Esquire, and wife, James Dale, Esquire, Mrs. Eliza Dale, 



464 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1824. 

Colonel Aaron Chamberlin and wife, Andrew McBeth and wife, 
John Campbell, Maria Campbell, Thomas Sawyer, Elizabeth Saw- 
yer, William Linn and wife, Charles Maclay, Elizabeth Vanvalzah. 
The next evening, October 21st, at the same place, the festivities 
were taken up by the young people, of whom were : William Kelly, 
Andrew Kelly, Joseph Kelly, Robert P. Maclay, Samuel Gamble, 
James Mathers, F. F. Linn, James Sawyer, Joseph Candor, John 
Young, John Vanvalzah, Robert Forster, John Chamberlin, Mrs. S. 
Kelly, Miss Sarah Dorrough, Sarah McClellan, Margaret and Cath- 
erine McClellan, Sarah Forster, Hetty Forster, Catherine Hood, 
Mary Hood, Frances Chamberlin, Elizabeth Vanvalzah, Margaret 
Vanvalzah, Harriet Candor, Matilda Sawyer, Eleanor Young, Jane 
Davidson. 

/4 Rope Dancer at New Berlin. 

' ' This summer a rope-dancer and his clown visited New Berlin, and 
put up at Seebold's, where he proposed to display his agility for the 
amusement of the people and the replenishment of his pockets. 
Before he mounted the slack rope, however, he must needs make an 
equestrian display, in order to attract the attention of the public. 
He applied to me for my horse, but I declined giving it. Nat Hen- 
rie, a waggish printer, happened to be present, volunteered to lend 
him his, a handsome, young gray mare. The offer was accepted, 
and Nat went away to bridle her. He soon came back to my ofhce, 
and notified me that there would be some fun presently. He said 
he had put on the mare a broken bit, which he had mended with 
twine. He said the mare was as wild as the devil, and if the clown 
attempts to hold her in with that bridle, there will be a ride worth 
seeing. Nat then walked over to Seebold's, and engaged the clown 
in conversation, while the showman, dressed in red jacket, white 
pants, white kid boots, and with his hair put up like a lady's, with 
side combs and in puffs, mounted and set out. When Nat judged 
that the showman had made sufficient headway, he let loose his hold 
of the clown's stirrup. The clown followed his master at a full 
gallop, with a whoop and halloo ; the mare quickened her speed at 
the sound. The showman drew bridle with all his strength, the bit 
gave way, the rider fell on his back, with his heels in the air, and 
then, rolling off, alighted on hands and knees upon the ground. 



1824.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 465 



Nat ran to his stable, whither the affrighted mare had fled, "put on 
another bridle, and, returning, condoled with the showman on his 
misfortune, and offered him the chance of another ride. This he 
declined. The show was not good that night, on account of the 
want of agility of the rope-dancer." 

4th December, the first snow of the winter fell. 24th and 25th 
December, show of wax figures at Christopher Seebold's, in New 
Berlin : Macbeth Consulting the Witch ; General Butler and the 
Indian • Two Chinese Dwarfs ; An American Dwarf; -Harriet Newell 
presenting Tracts to Heathen Children; Seven Boys Chiming Bells; 
hand organ. Admittance, twelve and a half cents. 

If a man had a lion or leopard, a porcupine or the skin of a huge 
snake, he wandered about the country, collecting the odd change of 
idlers, children, and curiosity hunters. These were usually exhibited 
in a stable or out-house. Theaters and rope dancing in the ball- 
rooms of the tavern, rooms communicating with folding-doors, of 
which the hotels of the olden times were never without. There was 
exhibited a cat's skin, which excited considerable attention, and was, 
indeed, a great curiosity. The skin was white, except a black spot 
in the middle of the back, resembling the bust of a man in profile. 
So perfect was the resemblance, that it required close examination 
to satisfy the beholder that the picture was not a work of art. The 
owner, on one occasion, refused three thousand dollars for it. I 
cannot tell what has become of it, but believe the owner took it to 
Europe, and disposed of it. This fact should induce us to be less 
skeptical as to some of the stories of the ancient historians about the 
liisus naturcz, which so often alarmed the superstitious Greeks and 
Romans. The outline of the head was as perfect and complete in 
all its parts as if it had come from the hands of the most skillful pro- 
file cutter. — G. A. S. 

John Snyder's Heirs vs. Simon Snyder. 

This hardly-contested case deserves especial mention from the 
great interest it excited in the minds of our people at that time. It 
was originally brought at Sunbury, and the claim was for ninety- 
■ three acres of land on the Isle of Que. George A. Snyder's narra- 
tive of it is as follows : 
30 



4b6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1824. 

John Snyder, brother of my father, purchased the property of 
Peter Weiser, in 1785. John died from a fall from his horse, and 
his widow removed to Lancaster, with her children. She afterwards 
married Jacob Kendig, who lived a mile from Selinsgrove, up the 
road to Sunbury. 

Simon Snyder, John Miller, and Martin Kendig were appointed 
administrators of John Snyder. The estate was incumbered largely, 
and an order of sale was obtained. The property was offered for 
sale at Selinsgrove, and adjourned, for want of bidders, to Sunbury, 
and, on the 12th of November, 1790, was struck off to Anthony 
Selin, who married my father's sister. My father advised Selin 
not to buy, thinking he would have trouble in paying for it. Just 
as it was about being struck down, Jacob Kendig put in a bid, for 
what reason he never explained, but as he and the whole party were 
somewhat fuddled, he probably bid to vex Selin. The purchaser, 
after some swearing at Kendig, treated all hands, and they got into 
the ferry scow with unsteady steps and heated brains. On the water 
Selin took occasion to call Kendig a damned rascal, and then to 
lick him for not acknowledging the truth of the charge. 

Selin entered into possession, and commenced farming the land. 
He was then in partnership with my father in a mill, erected on a 
tract of forty-two acres, part of the tract originally owned by John 
Snyder, and which they had purchased of John, in 1787. Selin 
died in 1792, leaving two children, Anthony and Agnes. The latter 
married James K. Davis, about the year 1808. My father was nom- 
inated for Governor, and, among other slanderous reports started 
against him, was one that he had been in league with Selin, and 
cheated his brother's orphan children out of the land. Daniel Smith, 
a lawyer and active politician, is supposed to have been the origina- 
tor of the story. At all events, he was active in spreading it, and 
persuaded the guardians of John Snyder's children to bring an eject- 
ment for the land. 

The plaintiff on the trial, before Judge Chapman, claimed on 
three grounds : i. That the orphans' court proceedings were irregu- 
lar. 2. That Selin's violent conduct at the sale prevented others. 
from bidding. 3. That Simon Snyder was in partnership with Selin 
in the purchase, had come into possession after Selin's death, and 
had spoken of the property as his own. The first ground, being 



1824.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 467 

matter of record, was decided by the court to be insufficent. The 
second and third grounds, if proved to the satisfaction of the jury, 
were sufficent to justify a verdict for the plaintiff. The jury, however, 
without much hesitation, gave a verdict for the defendant. The judg- 
ment was reversed on some exceptions to the admission of testimony 
being such as lawyers are wont to make in order to have the chance 
of another trial. 

Soon after the decision, Anthony Snyder (John's son) removed 
to the Genessee country, (New York.) He became a pettifogger, 
and met with great success in his vocation. Union county was 
erected in 181 3, and the cause removed thither. Anthony Snyder 
and Daniel Rhoads came to Pennsylvania, as the representatives of 
the plaintiffs, to attend to the trial. There being much delay in 
coming to trial, on account of the difficulty of collecting the wit- 
nesses, who were numerous and much scattered, and on account 
of the indolence and dilatory temper of Judge Chapman, Anthony 
and Daniel traversed the county, visiting the taverns and all kinds of 
gatherings, and holding forth in piteous style on the subject of the 
frauds, whereby the defendant had cheated his orphan nephews and 
neices out of their inheritance. A general prejudice was thus ex- 
cited, and an impartial trial became impossible. Had the judge 
been a man of courage and firmness, in whose legal qualifications 
the bar and the public had confidence, he might have secured a 
righteous verdict. But the clamor terrified him. He continued 
the cause from term to term, and from year to year, on almost any 
pretext ; his fears and indolence making him unwilling to face the 
long and wearisome case. 

The second trial came off, I think, in 1 8 1 6 . The judge saw clearly 
where justice was, but, weak and timid, he shuffled in his decisions 
and in his charge, and there was a verdict for the plaintiffs. The 
partnership they endeavored to prove by general repute. Their only 
witnesses were illiterate, and sometimes dishonest, laborers, who had, 
more than twenty years before, worked for Selin and my father ; 
while Kremer, Evans, Simon Snyder, junior, well acquainted with 
the parties, testified to the real extent of the partnership. 

The amount of perjury on the plaintiff's side was surprisingly great. 
The main witness to the allegation that Selin's threats had frightened 
off bidders was a man named Bower, from Dauphin county, who 



468 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1824. 

swore that but for Selin's threats he would have given ^400 or ;!{^5oo 
more. The defendant proved that Bower said on his way home that 
the land went too high, and no sane man would give so much for it. 

The oldest land-holders of the vicinity, Boyd, DeGruchy, Leisen- 
ring, Taggert, Dentler, and others, unanimously testified the land 
sold above its value, it being island land. 

The defendant's counsel, apprehending the result from the violence 
of the prejudice, presented numerous points, and upon a writ of er- 
ror, the judgment was reversed. Soon after this my father died, and 
Anthony Selin, the younger, and James K. Davis, were substituted 
as defendants. An attempt was made to put the costs, thus far ac- 
crued, upon Simon Snyder's estate ; but the court decided that Selin's 
heirs had all the time been the real defendants, and that Simon Sny- 
der had only been nominally defendant. 

The cause was tried again in 1823 ; Lashells and Hepburn for 
plaintifis \ Bellas and Greenough for defendants. The clamors of the 
plaintiffs and the weakness of the judge made it more than ever a 
hopeless task for the defendants. A verdict was again had against 
them, followed by a reversal by the Supreme Court. Another ver- 
dict must have been, under our judicial system, final, provided it 
should be for the plaintiffs, and this was almost certain to be the case. 
The defendants resolved to refer the case to arbitrators. I was pro- 
thonotary, and, on account of my consanguinity to defendants, liable 
to be objected to. Mr. Maclay, the register, acted in ray place. He 
was an upright man, and performed his duty faithfully. The number 
of referees was five. Joseph Rathfon was the only one that was not 
objected to of the five nominated by each party. Mr. Maclay made 
then a list of twenty names, and each party struck eight names. 
The board thus formed, Dan Caldwell, Michael Rathfon, Valentine 
Haas, John Reifsnyder, and Joseph Spotts, gave an award for the de- 
fendants. Plaintiffs then resolved to appeal, and Doctor Atlee, of 
Philadelphia, came with Mr. Lashells, the leading counsel on his 
side, to enter the appeal. I was desired to take the necessary affi- 
davit and bond, and lay them aside for the present, until the costs, 
which were necessary to be paid, should be forwarded, and then I 
was to file the affidavit and enter the appeal. The taxation of costs 
was difficult and tedious. Many of the subpoenas had been lost, 
and as no account had been kept of time, the defendants had to make 



1824.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 46g 

their bill very low to avoid exceptions. The amount, however, after 
all allowances, was upwards of $i ,500. The twenty days elapsed, and 
no costs were paid ; the defendants demanded judgment, which I 
entered with good-will. So ended the Isle of Que case. 

The reason why the costs were not forthcoming, we learned after- 
wards. When Doctor Atlee got back to Philadelphia, he took coun- 
sel of David Paul Brown, his attorney, who advised him not to pay 
over the costs, as the mere taking of the affidavit and bond for 
future costs constituted an appeal — that I Avould be liable to the de- 
fendants for costs. When Mr. Lashells wrote to inquire why the 
costs were not forthcoming, and was informed of Mr. Brown's 
advice, he refused to be a party to any such unfair dealing, and 
added that. he felt sure the court would not allow an appeal to be 
entered ; that it was ungenerous to throw Mr. Snyder into the costs 
for an act of kindness to Doctor Atlee, to save him a journey from 
Philadelphia, by taking the affidavit and bond while he was at New 
Berlin. 

The plaintiffs then brought a suit in the United States court, at 
Philadelphia, for that part which lay west of Penn's creek, and on 
which Selinsgrove was built. The first attempts to bring on the suit 
to trial failed, for the absence of witnesses, who were too old and in- 
firm to go so far. A rule to take depositions was then entered. 
Here David Paul once more proved their evil genius. The rule of 
court required the depositions to be forwarded under the seal of the 
justice or commissioner, to the clerk of the court, to be by him 
opened. The justice did his part correctly, but the bearer, who was 
a friend of the plaintiffs, handed them first to Mr. Brown, who igno- 
rantly, or regardless of the rule, broke them open and perused them. 
He then took them to the clerk, but the latter refused either to re- 
ceive or file them. A few days afterward the case was called up, 
the depositions were rejected by the court, and the plaintiffs suffered 
a non-suit. 

. December 25, Samuel Johnston, aged twelve, tried for setting fire 
to his uncle Jacob Johnston's barn, in West Buffalo. He was con- 
victed, but obtaining a new trial, was acquitted at May sessions, 
1825. Mumma, district attorney, and C. A. Bradford for Com- 
monwealth ■ Horning, Van Home, Packer, and W. Cox Ellis for 
defendant. 



470 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1824. 



Deaths. 

April 9, William Wilson, of Kelly township, aged eighty-two. He 
came into the Valley in 1772, and his eldest daughter, Martha, was 
born in 1774. His children were : Thomas, born August 18, 1776, 
died May 23, 1831 ; James, born August 3, 1778, died December 26, 
1831; Mary, born April 14, 1783, married William Hayes, died 
December 10, 1827- William, junior, many years a merchant at 
Lewisburg, born August 10, 1787, died June 12, 1783; Samuel, 
died January 16, 1843; Effie, married to William Murray, died 
January 23, 1853 ; Eliza, who married Peter Nevius, alone survives. 

David Soult, born March 18, 1752, enlisted in Northampton 
county, in Captain Marien Lamar's company, and served in Canada 
in 1776, and afterwards enlisted in the second Pennsylvania. His 
captain, who was major of the second, was killed at Paoli. Soult 
was in the battles of Brandy wine, Germantown, Monmouth, and at 
the storming of the block-house. He left five children : John, Jacob, 
Philip, George, and Michael. 

October 4, at New Berlin, Adam Specht, shoe-maker ; enlisted as 
a private, (in Colonel Nicholas Haussegger's German regiment,) at 
Shafferstown, May, 1776; discharged at Northumberland by Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Lewis Wiltner, in 1779. 

Marriages. 

2 2d July, Nathan Jordan, merchant, to Miss Hannah Smith, both 
of White Deer. 24th August, by Reverend Heim, Conrad Pontius, 
of Ohio, to Miss Mary Seebold, of New Berlin. 26th, by Reverend 
Thomas Hood, Captain James Magee to Miss Elizabeth Strayhorn, 
of West Buffalo. 14th October. William Linn, of Kelly, to Miss 
Jane Morrow, of Franklin county. 14th October, by Reverend 
Jacob W. Smith, Martin Dreisbach, junior, to Miss Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of Solomon Kleckner. 31st October, by Reverend Martin Dreis- 
bach, Isaac Peters to Miss Susan Miller, of New Berlin. December 
16, William C. Stedman to Elizabeth, daughter of Hugh Wilson. 



r< 



18^5. 




G-EORGE Kremer's Article in the "Columbian Observer," and Henry 
Clay's Card — Reception of Mr. Kremer at Lewisburg — Weather 
Record — Peculiarities of the Bar — The Shoavman at New Berlin 
■ — Witchcraft Farce in Beaver Township. 

[From the Columbian Ob.=!erver.] 

Washington, January 25, 1825. 
JIEAR SIR : I take up my pen to inform you of one of 
the most disgraceful transactions that ever covered with 
infamy the Republican ranks. Would you believe that 
men professing Democ7'acy could be found base enough 
to lay the axe at the very root of the tree of Liberty ? Yet, strange 
as it is, it is not less true. To give you a full history of the trans- 
action would far exceed the limits of a letter. I shall, therefore, at 
once proceed to give you a brief account of such a bargain as can 
only be equalled by the Famous Burr Conspiracy oi 1801. For 
some time past, the friends of Clay have hinted that they, like the 
Swiss, would fight for those who would pay best. Overtures were 
said to have been made by the friends of Adams to the friends of 
Clay, offering him the appointment of Secretary of State for his aid 
to elect Adams. And the friends of Clay gave this information to 
the friends of Jackson, and hinted that if the friends of Jackson 
would offer the same price, they would close with them. But none 
of the friends of Jackson would descend to such mean barter and 
sale. It was not believed by any of the friends of Jackson that this 
contract would be ratified by the members from the States who had 
voted for Mr. Clay. 

I was of opinion, when I first heard of this transaction, that men, 
professing any honorable principles, could not, nor would not, be 

471 



47 2 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 

transferred like the planter does his negroes, or the farmer his team 
and horses. No alarm was excited — we believed the Republic was 
safe. The nation, having delivered Jackson into the hands of Con- 
gress, backed by a large majority of their votes, there was on my 
mind no doubt that Congress would respond to the will of the nation, 
by electing the individual they had declared to be their choice. Con- 
trary to this expectation, it is now ascertained to a certainty that 
Henry Clay has transferred his interest to John Quincy Adams. As 
a consideration for this abandonment of duty to his constituents, it 
is said and believed, should this unholy coalition prevail. Clay is to 
be appointed Secretary of State. I have no fears on my mind — I 
am clearly of opinion we shall defeat every combination. The force 
of public opinion must prevail, or there is an end of liberty. 

[From the National Intelligencer.] 

A Card — I have seen, without any other emotion than that of 
ineffable contempt, the abuse which has been poured upon me by a 
scurrilous paper, issued in this city, and by other kindred prints and 
persons, in regard to the presidential election. The editor of one 
of those prints, ushered forth in Philadelphia, called the Columbian 
Observer, for which I do not subscribe, and which I have not or- 
dered, has had the impude?ice to transmit to me his vile paper of the 
28th instant. In that number is inserted a letter, purporting to have 
been written from this city, on the 25th instant, by a member of the 
House of Representatives, belonging to the Pennsylvania delegation. 
I believe it to be d. forgery ; but, if it be genuine, I pronounce the 
member, whoever he may be, a base and infainoics calumniator, a 
DASTARD, and A LIAR, and if he dare unveil himself and avow his 
name, I will hold him responsible, as I here admit myself to be, to 
all THE LAWS which govern and regulate the conduct of MEN OF 
HONOR. 

H. Clay. 

■^xst January, 1825. 

Another Card. — George Kremer, of the House of Representa- 
tives, tenders his respects to the Honorable " H. Clay," and informs 
him that, by reference to the editor of the Columbian Observer, he 
may ascertain the name of the writer of a letter of the 25th ultimo, 
which it seems has afforded so much concern to " H. Clay." In the 
meantime, George Kremer holds himself responsible to prove, to the 



1825.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 473 

satisfaction of unprejudiced minds, enough to satisfy them of the ac- 
curacy of the statements which are contained in that letter, to the 
extent that they concern the course and conduct of " H. Clay." 
Being a representative of the people, he will not fear to " cry aloud 
and spare not," when their rights and privileges are at stake. 

On the return of Mr. Kremer, the citizens of Lewisburg assembled 
at the house of Thomas R. Lewis. Alexander Graham was chosen 
chairman, and John Sargeant, secretary. The object of the meeting 
being stated from the chair, the following resolutions were unani- 
mously adopted, viz : 

Resolved, That James Geddes, Doctor Thomas Vanvalzah, Daniel 
C. Ambler, Jacob Bogar, and Doctor William Joyce, be a commit- 
tee of arrangement to carry the object of the meeting into effect, 
and that they draft an address to the Honorable George Kremer, 
inviting him to a public dinner, at the house of T. R. Lewis, on 
Saturday, the 26th instant. 

Resolved, That a general invitation be given to the friends of the 
Honorable George Kremer. 

Committee'' s Invitation. 

Dear Sir : We, the undersigned, appointed a committee of 
arrangement, present our compliments to you, and respectfully re- 
quest the honor of your company, at the house of Thomas R. Lewis, 
on Saturday, the 26th instant, to partake of a public dinner, with 
your fellow-citizens of the borough of Lewisburg and its vicinity, to 
be given as a manifestation of their respect and gratitude for your 
firm, dignified, and patriotic conduct, as a member of the House of 
Representatives of the United States ; but more especially for your 
unremitted and vigorous efforts to stem the torrent of corruption, 
which threatened to inundate the national Legislature. 

With sentiments of esteem, we remain yours, dear sir, very re- 
spectfully, 

William Joyce, 

James Geddes, 
T. Vanvalzah, 
D. C. Ambler, 
Jacob Bogar, 
The Honorable George Kremer. 



474 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 



To which Mr. Kremer returned the following answer : 

Lewisburg, March 23, 1825. 

Gentlemex : Your friendly invitation to me, to partake of a 
public dinner at the house of T. R. Lewis, on the 26th instant, has 
just been received. This new testimonial of regard and kindness 
towards me is a sure pledge that the representative who discharges 
his duty with good faith, will always be supported and sustained by 
a virtuous and patriotic people. I need not say to you, that how- 
ever averse I should feel on ordinary occasions, on the present I 
shall waive all objections, and do myself the pleasure to dine with 
my fellow-citizens. Accept the assurance of my sincere respect and 

regard. 

George Kremer. 

Messrs. James Geddes, Doctor Thomas Vanvalz ah, D. C. Ambler, 

Doctor William Joyce, Jacob Bogar. 

On Saturday, the 26th, pursuant to previous arrangement, the 
long room of Mr. Lewis was crowded to overflowing. Colonel 
James Dale was called to the chair, and John Sargent appointed 
Secretary. 

The company sat down to a splendid entertainment provided for 
the occasion. After the cloth was removed, the following toasts 
were drunk with much hilarity and good glee. * * * * 

9. Honorable George Kremer, our worthy guest, the intrepid 
and watchful guardian of the people's rights — When corruption 
reared its hydra head, he "cried aloud, and spared not." [Here 
Mr. Kremer rose, and delivered a short and very appropriate ad- 
dress.] 

Volunteers. 

By Jonathan Smith: The intrepid Kremer — Like David of old, he 
slew the modern Goliah, the giant of intrigue, made of Clay, daubed 
with corruption. 

William Kelly : The apostate BRECK — a member of Congress, 
belonging to the Pennsylvania delegation ; he was surely a bastard, 
not a legitimate son of Pennsylvania. 

John Sargent : Our worthy fellow-citizen and guest, George 



1825.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 475 

Kremer — His patriotism and manly firmness, in exposing the corrupt 
intrigues of a political gambler, claim oirr best plaudits and gratitude. 

Henry Beck : Greece — The ancient seat of the muses, of science 
and philosophy ; she was great ; she will be great again. 

Alexander Morton : The government of the Union, like a pure 
stream, may it have no foul Clay to pollute it. 

John Machemer : The hero of New Orleans — the firm patriot and 
statesman ; the second savior of his country ; the protector of beauty 
and booty; if he is one of the "military chieftans," may the 
genius of liberty send us a great many of them. 

Doctor Samuel Strohecker : The press — the grand engine of lib- 
erty and civilization ; destined to illuminate, emancipate, and exalt 
the world. 

John Musser : The editors of the National Intelligence}', who de- 
clined publishing the patriotic letter of Mr. Kremer, addressed to his 
constituents — Fit tools, indeed, to execute the purposes of the Holy 
Alliance. 

Daniel Beyers : May Pennsylvania and our sister States be forever 
blessed with such bright members as our worthy fellow-citizen, George 
Kremer, who will unshield all intrigues, without respect to persons, 
and that, too, at the risk of his popularity. 

Alexander Graham : The people of Pennsylvania, and our worthy 
countryman, George Kremer, Esquire. 

John Reber : The press — On its freedom depends the happiness, 
liberty, and independence of the world. 

Jacob Reedy : General Jackson — As a soldier, statesman, and 
patriot, unequaled ; may he be our next President. 

John Hummel : The Government of the United States has been 
seized by a Quincy, produced by the putrid exhalations of a tobacco 
pipe, made of Clay, drenched in corruption — It will prove fatal in 
less than four years. 

George Schnabel: Our next Governor — A man of stern integrity 
and undeviating republican principles. 

Andrew Reedy : Thank Providence the freemen of the United 
States made choice of a hero and statesman, in preference to a po- 
litical gambler. 

John Brown : The corruptionists in Congress — may they meet 



476 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 

with the same fate hereafter, as did Henry Clay in his late attempt 
to disgrace the Pennsylvania farmer. 

Clement Beckwith : Henry Clay and John Q. Adams — From every 
consideration, there is nothing good they have said or can do ; may 
they sink in their corruption, and the friends of freedom stand up in 
their shoes. 

Thomas R. Lewis : Henry Clay, who smuggled J. Q. Adams into 
the presidential chair, as the serpent did original sin into Paradise 
— May the flaming sword of the people thrust them both out in the 
year 1829. 

Jacob Musser : Adam, the first man, was made of clay — Adams 
was made President by Clay and corruption. 

George Kremer was the nephew of Governor Snyder, and came 
to reside with him when a mere lad. He was very ill formed, but 
not the least ashamed of his ugliness, and rather inclined to feel 
proud of his distinction in this respect. He grew up to be stout, 
and soon became able to fight his own battles, in an age and a dis- 
trict where broils were of daily occurrence. This region, then 
called by the general name of Shamokin, was in those days the fron- 
tier, and looked upon by the dwellers on the sea-board, as we look 
upon Iowa and Kansas at the present time. It served as a place of 
refuge for all runaway and desperate characters from the south east- 
ern counties. The sheriff and constable seldom ventured into the 
wilds on this side of the river, which acquired the significant title of 
RascaP s creek. 

George was remarkable for shrewdness, no less than for courage 
and bodily strength, and he became, in a short time, a person of 
great influence among the hardy inhabitants of the new country. In 
addition to his other good qualities, he was strictly honest, and his 
word was his bond. Whatever he did, he did it with all his might. 
With such qualifications and endowments, it is no matter of wonder 
that he became a leading man so soon as he embarked in politics. 
After serving several terms as a member of our State Legislature, he 
was elected to Congress, and here acquired the distinction which he 
enjoyed. 

In 1825, it having been ascertained that neither of the candidates 
for the Presidency had received the constitutional majority of votes, 
the matter was referred to Congress. Mr. Adams, General Jackson, 



1825.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 477 



Mr. Clay, and Mr. Crawford were the candidates, and as the choice 
of Congress lay between the two first, there was, of course, consid- 
erable intriguing on the part of the two latter and their friends. 
The friends of Jackson, finding that Mr. Clay and his friends were 
decidedly hostile to their candidate, and, indeed, made no secret of 
their aversion to him, resolved, after in vain trying the arts of per- 
suasion, to resort to intimidation. They caused a letter to be writ- 
ten and published in the Columbian Observer, of Philadelphia, 
which stated that a corrupt bargain had been made between Messrs. 
Adams and Clay, in pursuance of which, the latter was to transfer 
his vote, and the vote of his friends to Mr. Adams, who was to 
make him Secretary of State, as his reward. 

On the day after the appearance of the letter, Mr. Clay, then 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, moved that a committee 
be appointed to inquire into the truth of this charge. Mr. Kremer 
seconded the motion, stating that he was ready with the proofs, and 
willing to meet the inquiry. The motion was opposed by Mr. Mc- 
Duffie and some others, friends to Jackson, on the ground that there 
was not sufficient reason to consume the time of the House in inves- 
tigating a frivolous newspaper charge — a charge which no one ac- 
quainted with the parties concerned would believe. Mr. Clay had 
even insisted on his right to clear his character from the stain thus 
publicly attempted to be fixed on it, and Mr. Kremer eagerly sec- 
onded him, exulting in the anticipated certain confounding of the 
Clay and Adams party. 

Not one, however, of those who had put him upon writing the 
letter, supported him, or manifested any anxiety for the proposed 
inquiry. The committee was appointed. On the evening of the 
same day, Kremer discovered that his friends could furnish him with 
no evidence to support his charge, and that he must get out of the 
scrape .as well as he could. On the succeeding day, the committee 
notified him they were ready to proceed. In answer to which, he 
wrote a long letter to the chairman, declining to appear, alleging 
that as he had made no formal charges, the committee could have 
no jurisdiction— that his charge was made for the public, &c. This 
special pleading was so nearly identified with the argument of Mr. 
McDuffie on the preceding day, in the motion for inquiry, as to lead 
some to suspect that he, (Mr. McDuffie,) was its author ; but the 



478 AANALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 

character of Mr. McDufifie forbids us to harbor any such suspicion. 
It was probably the production of Mr. Ingham, who, as afterwards 
appeared, was Kremer's chief prompter in this business. It was 
natural for him to adopt Mr. McDuffie's arguments, being the best 
and, indeed, only mode of getting clear of the difficulty. 

One might have supposed that this disgraceful retreat would have 
convinced the whole public of the falsehood of Kremer's charge, 
but political faith covers mountains, and the charge was eagerly 
entertained and reiterated by the partisans of Jackson. Kremer 
himself, as appears from the testimony of Mr. Crowninshield, doubted, 
at the last, and had a letter of apology ready for Mr. Clay, which 
Mr. Ingham found means to suppress. 

Such was the eagerness with which the Pennsylvanians received 
the corruption story, and such the cloud of incense with which Kre- 
mer was fumigated, that it is no wonder that his brain was affected, 
and he really believed himself the savior of his country's liberty. 
His vanity became excessive, and as Cicero of old continually rung 
the charges in his later orations, on the names of Lentulus and 
Catahne, so Kremer made corruption, and his famous letter, the 
eternarburden of his song. 

Finding that the corruption story was unsparingly used against 
him by the Jacksonians, notwithstanding the way in which they had 
backed out of the charge, and that even General Jackson had con- 
descended to lend the authority of his name to this shameless cal- 
umny, Mr. Clay took the trouble to collect the letters, certificates, 
and affidavits of almost every one who could have any knowledge 
of the matter in agitation, and published them in a pamphlet. 
These testimonials, coming from upwards of fifty persons of all 
parties, formed a most triumphant refutation of the corruption story. 
But it was all in vain for Messrs. Adams and Clay. The popular 
mind had been roused to phrensy, and was utterly inaccessible to 
all reason. Jackson was elected, in 1828, by a decided majority, 
and Kremer, having answered the purpose of his party, was for- 
gotten at once. Too honest to take a part in the intrigues of his 
fellow-partisans at Washington, he could not make himself of any 
further use to them, and was pushed aside to make room for those 
who knew how to make the best use, for selfish purposes, of his ser- 
vices. For some years after he was left out of Congress, he con- 



1825.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 479 

tinued to make speeches at public meetings, the burden of which 
was "corruption" and ''My letter to the Columbia Observer. '' 
His action, in speaking, was vehement and ungraceful, his voice 
loud, and his accentuation false and ranting, such as school-boys are 
apt to acquire under the tuition of an injudicious teacher. His 
honesty and zeal no one doubted ; but designing demagogues con- 
trived, by dexterous management, to keep him back, as he was too 
straightforward for them, and if admitted to their councils, would 
mar the harmony of their best laid plans by denouncing their selfish- 
ness and unfair dealing. There was neither selfishness nor mean- 
ness about him, and had he condescended to cringe to the party 
leaders in 1828-1829, when his name was in the mouth of every one, 
or had he intimated that his influence might possibly be turned 
against Jackson, there is no donbt but that he could have obtained 
highest reward in the form of political preferment. Indeed, it was 
a matter of wonder and remark, among his unsophisticated constit- 
uents, that he remained without office. They little thought that 
their favorite was altogether thrust aside by the throng of hungry 
office-hunters, who assailed the President with their importunate 
cries for the spoils of victory. He was not blind to the intrigues 
and foul play going on at the seat of Government, for on his way 
home once, he met an acquaintance whom he mistook for one of 
his own political caste, and to whom he said: "Adams and Clay 
were corrupt, but their corruption was child's play to what is going 
on at Washington now." — G. A. S. 

Weather Record. 

The spring was early; peach trees in bloom on the loth of April; 
plum trees on the i8th; flowers in the garden on the i6th; rye in 
head on the 8th of May. July 13, the thermometer stood at ninety- 
six degrees. Many springs in the Valley gave out, and the pasture 
burned up. July 16, the crops in Union county were most extraor- 
dinary. It was generally acknowledged that the yield was one 
fourth more upon the same quantity of ground than ever has been 
raised before. Jonathan Spyker, of Lewisburg, cut twenty-three 
dozen of wheat off thirty-eight perches. October 4, a comet visible. 
December 4, the first snow fell. 



4^0 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 



Various Items. 

March 29, a dinner at Jacob Maize's, in Mifflinburg, to Honor- 
able George Kremer. The latter sold out his stock of store goods 
at Lewisburg to Samuel Roush, Esquire, who removed it to Mifflin- 
burg. William Tagger t kept the hotel at the Cross-Roads ; Valen- 
tine Hahn and Roland Stoughton at Lewisburg ; John Hoffman, 
" The Rising Sun," at New Berlin; and Thomas Crotzer, "The 
Bull's Head," at Mifflinburg. May 18, George Kremer, James 
Merrill, and Ner Middleswarth, appointed delegates to the internal 
improvement convention, at Harrisburg. July 2, John Cummings, 
junior, took charge of the Union Times, succeeded on the ist of 
October by John A. Sterrett, Esquire. The candidates on the 
Democratic ticket for Assembly were Ner Middleswarth and Wil- 
liam Forster, junior. On the Independent ticket, James Madden 
and J. Reifsnyder. For a convention, 1,715 ; against, 717. Novem- 
ber I, Camp Calhoun held at McEwensville. The Lewisburg 
Guards, commanded by Captain Jackson McFaddin, numbering 
forty-five men, were in camp. David and James Templeton left 
New Berlin to establish a store at Canonsburg. James to study di- 
vinity there. David C. Ambler left Lewisburg. He finally landed in 
Florida, where he died in 1867 or 1S68. November 10, Mr. Still- 
well commenced a survey of the turnpike, from Mifflinburg to Belle- 
fonte, at Mifflinburg. James Wilson purchased Captain William 
Gray's place. 

In July, James Magee commenced boring for salt in West Buffalo , 
at the place still known as the salt works. A stock company was 
formed, Saiiiuel Roush, Esquire, treasurer, and an assessment of one 
dollar per share of "The Union Salt Works" called in. The opera- 
tors humbugged the share-holders until their patience was exhausted. 
In December, according to the Times, " they had reached the depth 
of one hundred and fifty feet, striking on two veins of salt water of 
considerable magnitude. Should the anticipations be realized, Union 
county will, ere long, be able to supply its inhabitants and those of 
the neighboring counties with the indispensable article of salt." [A 
barrel of salt conveyed in the night to the well saturated it well 
enough to raise an assessment from the stockholders assembled the 



1825.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 481 

next day.] One good result, however, was a stream of cold sulphur 
water, which has refreshed and invigorated thousands of people. 

"A man by the name of Ephraim Stephens, of White Deer town- 
ship, was brought to the jail of this county. One report says that 
he had formed the resolution of killing some part of his family, and 
then putting an end to his own existence, and that he loaded his gun 
for the purpose of putting this resolution in execution. Fortunately, 
one of his sons caught him, and wrested the gun from his hands; but 
in the struggle, the gun accidently went off, and its contents lodged 
in the barn, which was filled with grain and hay, and which was 
totally consumed." — Times. 

July 22, James Young, of Kelly township, (near Ephraim Stean's,) 
was found dead, his body in such a state of putrefaction, he was 
buried where he was found. He had gone to the mountain with 
some of his neighbors to cut cooper poles, and, complaining of being 
sick, started home and, no doubt, died from excessive heat. His 
neighbors searched for him all night and the succeeding day, before 
finding his body. ' ' The German Reformed and Lutheran church, 
known as 'Emanuel Church,' at New Berlin, was dedicated on Sun- 
day, July 31, agreeably to the German ritual, in the presence of a vast 
concourse of people. The Reverend Mr. Hendel, of Berks county, 
officiated, assisted by Reverend Messrs. Shindel, Smith, and Fries. 
The concourse of people was numerous, beyond all conception. The 
building is a handsome piece of architecture. Christopher Seebold, 
Esquire, was the contractor, and deserves much credit for the superb 
manner in which this building is finished, particularly the pulpit, 
which is said to be a correct model of the one in the German Re- 
formed church at Harrisburg, and which has been pronounced to be 
inferior to none in the State. On the subsequent Sunday, dedica- 
tory services were held in the English language, by Reverend Martin 
Bruner, of Sunbury, assisted by Reverend Thomas Hood." Times. 

Peculiarities of the Bar, from the Manuscript of the late James F. 

Linn, Esquire. 

" I do think, and I do say, gentlemen of the jury." — Lashells. 
"According to the perpendicular line of justice." — Bellas. 
31 



482 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 

"It is not in the power of mortal man to have a particle of doubt 
about it." — G?'eefiotigh. 

"But this is of no earthly consequence, if the Court please." — 
^S*. Hepburn. 

" Under the statoot of hoo and cry." — Bancraft. 

" The gentle, humane, and mild spirit which is diffused through 
the penal code of Pennsylvania. " — William Cox Ellis. 

"Humph! the gentlemen are marvelous witty." — R. C. Grier. 

"Yes, stop — well, let us see — stop there — come, let us have it 
down in writing." — Frick. 

"There is no evidence in the wide world to support it." — Van 
Horn. 

"It is no such matter." — Donnel. 

" I fancy." — -Jordan. 

"Hum! the big man gets up, and the little man gets up, and 
they try to carry their cause by a kind of mechanical operation." — 
Marr. 

" The creditors of the time of this transaction had no existence." — 
H. D. Ellis. 

Showman at New Berlin again. 

The evil star of last year's showman brought him to New Berlin 
again. The place seemed charged to the full with ill-luck for him. 

My young friend, B , having ascertained that he was to perform 

in a room on the ground- floor of Grier 's tavern, went to a window 
of the room, soon after the performance commenced, and having 
silently raised the sash about one inch, introduced the nose of a 
large syringe filled with a most abominable compound of filth. He 
had not waited long before the performer, standing upon the rope, 
presented a full front, within point blank distance ; then the fra- 
grant liquid was squirted over his magnificent person. Grier, who 
sat in the capacity of fiddler, in a line with the discharge, had his 
hair perfumed by the falling of divers odoriferous drops from the 
hissing current. Down leaped the rope-dancer, and up leaped 
Grier ■ the former ran out to plunge his head and body into a rain- 
barrel • the latter, foaming with wrath, to wreak his vengeance on 
the offender, whom, however, he could not find. The showman 



1825.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 483 

swore he never would set foot in New Berlin again, and he kept his 
oath. 

A very remarkable meteor appeared during this summer. I was 
standing in the prothonotary's office in New Berlin, when I heard, 
as I imagined, some one fall heavily upon the floor of the room above 
me. Knowing that the room was unoccupied, I had the curiosity to 
go and look in, but found no one there. On my return to my house, 
I mentioned the matter to my wife, who said she had heard a simi- 
lar sound, and I soon discovered that all my neighbors had been 
deceived in a similar manner. Those who were in the open air 
when they heard the sound, said the ground trembled under their 
feet, and horses were observed to start and crouch as when a bridge 
cracks under their feet. It appeared afterwards that the explosion 
had accompanied the appearance of a meteor, and had been heard 
at Bellefonte and Lewistown, on the Juniata, and at Sunbury and 
Liverpool, on the Susquehanna. The flight of the fiery ball was dis- 
tinctly seen by the workmen on the Juniata, and at Liverpool. I 
was told a fiery body was seen to fall apparently on the north side 
of Peter's mountain. 

Temperance associations began to be formed in the Valley in this 
year. Those connected therewith bound themselves to use no intox- 
icating liquor, except in such cases as required their use as medicines, 
and to discontinue the custom of offering strong drink to visitors. 
The latter practice had been so common that to omit it was con- 
sidered a breach of politeness. Every one knows with what a whirl- 
wind force public opinion in America, when once excited, bears 
down everything before it, and here was an illustration of its power. 

After three or four years, it became rare to offer liquors to visitors, 
and common to hear a person refuse to drink, on the ground that 
he was a temperance man. A respectable inn-keeper in Sunbury 
told me, about three years after this, that the sale of liquor at his 
bar, to travelers, had been diminished by not less than one half, 
under the influence of the temperance societies. The first temper- 
ance societies allowed the use of wines, on the ground that those 
who limited themselves to these would not get drunk on so expens- 
ive an article. 



484 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 

Witchcraft Farce. 

During this year a remarkable farce of witchcraft was played in 
the family of a man named Kern, in Beaver township. He had a 
wife and two daughters, and followed the occupation of farming. In 
his immediate vicinity lived a man named Romig, who, from some 
unknown cause, became a hypochondriac, and the impression got 
abroad that he was bewitched. Soon after this the milk in Kern's 
spring-house became sour, within a few hours after it was placed 
there. This occurred daily, until the farce was concluded, which was 
in two or three weeks. The next act played was of a more remark- 
able character. Kern's tables and kitchen furniture were to be seen 
flying in all directions, thrown, it was supposed, by supernatural 
means. Knives, forks, spoons, ladles, &c., never remained more 
than five minutes on the dresser, after having been placed there, but 
were thrown in various directions about the house ; and, as the more 
BELIEVING portion of the neighbors asserted, it was no uncommon 
thing to see them thrown through the solid wall of the house, with- 
out leaving any mark of their passage in the wall ! A peddler, who 
stopped for the purpose of trading some of his notions to Kern, as- 
serted that he had not been in the house ten minutes before his hat 
and dog were thrown through the wall of the kitchen, into the adjoin- 
ing yard. It is not to be presumed that he was influenced in propa- 
gating this story by the hope of assembling a crowd around his wagon. 

During these transactions, Kern had a numerous crowd daily at 
his house, and on Sundays there was a gathering at his door, such as 
the most eloquent divine would have failed to assemble. Of these, 
the major part came prepared to believe all they saw, and all they 
might hear. Of course, there was no lack of true stories. The un- 
believing portion of the visitors — a very small number, for men of 
SENSE generally staid at home — kept their eyes open, and readily 
discovered that the old woman and the daughters were the witches, 
and threw the knives, forks, &c. A witch doctor was called, who 
proceeded, with great solemnity, to expel the evil spirit. Divers 
magical and mysterious rites were performed, exorcisms were chanted, 
and texts of Scripture nailed to every door and window in the house. 
The witches, however, set the doctor at naught, and baffled all his 
schemes. At length a party of young men, residing in New Berlin, 



1825.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 4^5 



resolved to try their skill at taking evil spirits. One of them, having 
procured a mask, a huge flaxen-wig, a pair of furred gloves, and 
other necessary apparatus, set out with the rest, in the afternoon, 
and arrived at Kern's early in the evening. At their request, the 
witches performed, to their great satisfaction, until a late hour. At 
length, when all the visitors, except the young witch doctors, had left 
the house, it was resolved to commence operations. They desired 
to see how the witches acted above stairs, and were accordingly con- 
ducted up the ladder, accompanied by the whole family. In the 
meantime, one of the party, who had a remarkably hoarse and deep- 
toned voice, and who was to act the part of the devil, was notified 
by a preconcerted signal— for he had not entered the house — to pre- 
pare for action. He accordingly put on his wig and mask, which 
he rubbed with phosphorus, and wrapped himself in a buffalo-skin. 
The party up stairs were well provided with squibs. One of them 
had a piece of phosphorus, with which he wrote on the wall such 
words as " devil," "hell," &c., in a number of places. The sig- 
nal being given, the candle was extinguished, the squibs distributed 
most copiously, and the horrid words on the wall shone out in Hquid 
fire. The barrels and furniture in the room were trundled about the 
floor, and an astounding uproar was kept up for some minutes. Pres- 
ently a terrific roar was heard from below. All parties ran to the 
stair-door, and saw, at the foot of the ladder, his grim majesty, in 
all the terrors of flames, flax, fur, and horns. Satan made an appro- 
priate speech on the occasion, and then retired. His address was 
followed by a most edifying exhortation, by the wag of the party, on 
the sin of deceiving, and the danger of another visit from old Nick, 
if the present practices should be persisted in. The terrified witches 
made a full confession, and so ended the enchantment. — G. A. 
Snyder, 

Marriages. 

January i8, by Reverend J. W. Smith, Hezekiah Amberg, of 
New Berlin, to Miss Ehzabeth Brooks. February lo, by Reverend 
T. Hood, David Nesbit to Miss Mary, daughter of Jacob Musser. 
February 24, by Reverend Patterson, Thomas Candor, of Kelly, to 
Margaret, daughter of John Montgomery. March 15, James Dun- 
can, of Aaronsburg, to Mrs. Sophia Maxwell, of New Berlin. April 



486 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1825. 

7, by Reverend Fr-ies, John Orwig, of Mifflinburg, to Miss Maria 
Bright. April 28, by Reverend T. Hood, John Linn to Mary F. 1 
Chamberlin. May 5, by Reverend Heim, Daniel Ludwig to Miss 
Sarah Hoffman. May 6, by Reverend John Dreisbach, Robert P. 
Maclay, of East Buffalo, to Miss Margaret C. Lashells, of New Ber- 
lin. May 20, Henry B. Mussena to Miss Elizabeth Winter, of New 
Berlin. June 5, by Reverend Fries, Mathias Banner to Elizabeth 
Overmyer, of New Berlin. October 6, by Reverend Fries, Daniel 
Apple to Miss Susan Orwig, of Mifflinburg. October 9, John Maize 
to Miss Elizabeth Jones, of Mifflinburg. October 13, Mr. Straw- 
bridge, of Columbia county, to Miss Louisa, daughter of Charles 
Maus, Esquire. November 2, by Reverend Heim, Jonathan Wetzel 
to Miss Hettie Hoff, of Union. November 3, by Reverend J. H. 
Fries, Jacob G. Chestney, of Mifflinburg. to Juliana, daughter of 
John Cummings, Esquire, of Hartley. November 3, by James Mc- 
Clellan, Esquire, Daniel Mook to Miss Mary Dieffenbach. Novem- 
ber 20, David Mauck to Miss Nancy Shriner. December 22, by 
Reverend Stewart, William Kelly, of Union, to Miss Margaret Alli- 
son, of Centre. December 26, John Row to Miss Rachel Kunkle, 
of Dry Valley. 




1§26. 




Lottery Advertisements — Fourth of July Celebration — Murder of 
Jacob Swineford — Weather Record — Bishop Newcomer's Death — 
Political — Obituary. 

lANUARY 7, prices current in Philadelphia: Wheat, 
ninety cents; rye, fifty-eight; corn, sixty-two; whisky, 
twenty-six. Samuel Baum, postmaster at New Berlin, 
in April; Alexander Graham, at Lewisburg; Jacob 
Maize, at Mifflinburg. February 13, the coldest day of the year. 
The Democratic-Republican convention met at New Berlin. Robert 
Taylor, president ; John Bossier, secretary ; William Forster and 
Henry C. Eyer were appointed delegates to the State convention, with 
instructions to support the re-nomination of Governor Shulze. Feb- 
ruary 18, Judge Seth Chapman, who was impeached for misdemeanors 
in office, was acquitted by the Senate, twenty-six Senators voting 
not guilty, five voting guilty. March 13, James F. Linn admitted 
to the bar. April 10, the turnpike company incorporated to make 
a road from the end of the Lewisburg bridge to Mifflinburg. Com- 
missioners, William Hayes, James Geddes, Jacob Maize, Henry 
Roush, and James Duncan. 

Lottery advertisements fill the county papers this year. John A. 
Sterrett was agent for the Union Canal lottery, at New Berlin, and 
James Appleton, at Mifflinburg. New Berlin lottery, by Peter Smith. 
In Mifflinburg, one by John and Henry Orwig ; James Cummings, 
Samuel Roush, John Ray, James Appleton, George Bogar, and 
Conrad Grove, managers. William Wolfinger advertises the Selins- 
grove lottery. Andrew Reedy, one at William Taggert's, Buffalo 

487 



4^8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1826. 

Cross-Roads. Two prizes of ^3,000, one of $2,000. Severe drouth 
which continued until the 23d of June, when it rained so excessively 
as to spoil much hay.^ 28th, a great freshet on the river. The old 
market house, on Market street, in Lewisburg, taken down. 4th of 
July celebrated at New Berlin. Reverend J. H. Fries delivered a 
discourse from Psalm Ixxxv : 10 and 11 verses; Charles A. Brad- 
ford, Esquire, an oration. The singing was under the direction of 
Mr. Hickok. After which the company repaired to Gross' spring, 
where Mr. Eilert had prepared a dinner. Abbot Green was then 
made chairman, George A. Snyder, secretary, and a number of 
toasts were read. 

Murder of Jacob Swineford. 

Jacob Swineford, Esquire, of Middleburg, in this county, was 
murdered on the night of the 4th of July, in Lebanon. The facts, 
as far as we can learn from a German paper published in that place, 
are as follows : Swineford and his son had been, for some days pre- 
vious to the 4th, in the vicinity of Lebanon, with a drove of sheep, 
consisting of about three hundred and eighty, which he had disposed 
of, except about fifty, with which he arrived in Lebanon on the 
morning of the 4th, where he spent the day. In the evening he 
met with a Mr. Greenawalt, an old acquaintance, at the tavern of a 
Mr. Williams, where they drank together, after which Swineford 
asked Greenawalt to walk with him. They went, and when they 
came to an alley in Hill street, they were suddenly attacked by three 
men, by one of whom Greenawalt was knocked down twice, but 
succeeded in making a retreat, calling to Swineford to run also. 
Immediately afterwards, some boys, while passing, discovered some 
one lying on the ground. Light was immediately brought, and it 
was found to be Swineford, who was then in the agonies of death, 
and expired immediately afterwards. He had received two blows 
on his head, which occasioned his death. The deceased is supposed 

' At this time a farmer in West Buffalo made several attempts to haul in his hay, 
only to be disappointed by sudden showers. Finally he had a load within a short 
aistance of his barn, when a terrible storm came on. In his wrath, he swore he would 
have some hay in dry at any rate, and grabbing from the wagon as much as he could 
carry in his arms, he ran for the barn. Unfortunately for him, the creek intervened, 
and as he was running with all his might, his foot slipped at the middle of the foot 
log, and he plunged, with his hay, into the stream. 



1826.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 48g 

to have had between $400 and ^500, in a large pocket-book, which 
was missing. About |8o in a snaall pocket-book was found about 
his person. Two men were arrested on suspicion of having com- 
mitted the crime, but were afterwards discharged. The deceased 
has left a wife and six children to mourn his untimely end. — Times, 
July 14. 

In August it became very sultry, with no rain. Dust followed the 
plow, and a great deal of sickness prevailed in the Valley. In Sep- 
tember, fever and ague prevailed extensively. In December, there 
was a great deal of snow and good sleighing, and the river was fro- 
zen, and crossed by sleds. The first snow fell on the 4th of Novem- 
ber. 

September 28, Bishop Newcomer visited the Valley for the last 
time, on his return from a trip into Canada, staying at Martin and 
John Dreisbach's. He died at his own home, in Hagerstown, on 
12th March, 1830, aged eighty-one. "Long will he be remembered 
by thousands. Many, very many, souls will, at the great day, own 
him as the instrument, in the hand of God, by which they have been 
turned from the error of their ways, and have been brougnt from 
darkness to light." 

Utica for girl's name having become quite common, it is, perhaps, 
proper to state its origin. In this year, Captain John Snyder went on 
a visit to New York, taking with his newly-married wife, Margaret. 
Having a race-horse with him, he was lucky enough to win a match 
at Utica, in memory of which he named his daughter, born within 
the year, Utica, and the name, through mere fancy or personal liking, 
became quite the rage. 

Political. 

September, Democratic convention at New Berlin, Michael Rath- 
fon, chairman ; Samuel Aurand, secretary. William Forster, junior, 
and George Aurand nominated for Assembly; Elias P. Youngman 
for commissioner ; Andrew McClenachan and William Kessler, sen- 
atorial conferees, with instructions to support Ner Middleswarth for 
Senator, and indorsed the nomination of Governor Shulze. 

At a county meeting, held on the 20th, Frederick Gutelius, chair- 
man, Dan Caldwell and John Montelius, secretaries, John Ray was 



490 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1826. 

nominated for Senator ; James Madden and Robert Willet for As- 
sembly : John Montelius, commissioner ; Conrad Grove, James K. 
Davis, and Simon Shaffer, standing committee. 

The congressional conference met at the house of William A. Pet- 
riken, in Pennsborough. Henry Yearick and Jacob Hummel, con- 
ferees. George Kremer, Samuel McKean, and Espy Van Horn 
nominated for Congress. 

25th September, a senatorial conference met at Randall Wilcox's, 
in Lewisburg, and John Ray was nominated as a canal man. 

Governor Shulze had no opposition in the county, receiving 1062 
votes, nor had Van Horn, McKean, and Kremer. For Senate, 
John Ray received 929 votes; Middleswarth, 785. 

Marriages. 

2d February, by Reverend T. Hood, John Chamberlin to Eliza- 
beth, daughter of William Hayes, of Lewisburg. 21st February, 
James Caldwell, of Lewisburg, to Isabella, daughter of James Dun- 
can, of Centre county, i ith April, Jonathan Reedy to Miss Amelia 
Buchner. July 20, by Reverend T. Hood, James F. Linn, Esquire, 
of Lewisburg, to Miss Margaret, daughter of Hugh Wilson, of Buf- 
falo township. 1 7th August, by Reverend T. Hood, Thomas Grier 
to Mrs. Rachel Stratton, of New Berlin. In New York, by Reverend 
Doctor Roberts, John Snyder to Miss Margaret Hammond. 31st 
October, John Devling to Mary Wilson, daughter of Judge Hugh 
Wilson. 19th October, by Reverend T. Hood, James Merrill, 
Esquire, of New Berlin, to Miss Sarah Hepburn, of Northumberland. 
2 2d October, by Reverend J. H. Fries, Jesse Mauck, of New Berlin, 
to Miss Catherine Crotzer, of Mifflinburg. November 1 4, by John 
Nesbit, Esquire, William Alsbach to Catherine Shively. December 
26, by Reverend John Dreisbach, John Yost, of New Berlin, to Miss 
Sarah Shaffer, of Buffalo. 

ObiiMry. 

Samuel Templeton died at his residence, near New Berlin, on Sat- 
urday, February 18, aged seventy-two. He was born in Ireland, 
and came to this country at the age of nineteen, and has since then 
resided in this neighborhood. He has been for many years an elder 



1827.1 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 49 ^ 

in the Presbyterian cliurch, and, by an exemplary life, gave evidence 
that his profession of rehgion was sincere. He departed, after a long 
and distressing illness, in full possession of his mental faculties, and 
relying on the mercy of God, through the merits of our Redeemer, 
for salvation. His children were : Alexander, David, Reverend 
James, Ann, and Nancy, married to Doctor Charlton. 

On Monday morning, February 20, after a lingering illness of 
several months, John Mumma, Esquire, aged twenty-eight. His 
remains were interred with masonic honors on Tuesday last. 

At her residence, in Centre township, February 20, Mrs. Mary 
Wales, consort of James Wales. — Times, February 25. 



i8^>r- 




Canal Meeting — Debating Societies — Mifflinburg Academy Estab- 
lished — Borough of Mifflinburg Incorporated. 

|LOUR in Philadelphia, in January, $6 per barrel. The 
newspapers note the winter of 1826-27 as the coldest 
since 1782. February 16, a public debate between the 
Lewisburg Debating Society and the Mifflinburg Debat- 
ing Society took place at William Taggert's tavern, at the Cross- 
Roads. George A. Snyder, the president, awarded the victory to the 
Mifflinburg society. A little newspaper war between the societies 
resulted. William Cameron, Esquire, president of the Lewisburg 
society, and Doctor William Joyce, secretary, cudgel the Mifflinburg 
society in a pretty lively way, in the Times. 

February 20, a meeting in favor of canals was held at Lewisburg, 
president, Andrew McClenachan ; secretary, James Dale; committee 
on resolutions, Dan Caldwell, Doctoj Thomas Vanvalzah, and Wil- 
liam Haves. 



493 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1827. 

April 2, Honorable George Kremer moved from Lewisburg to 
the Stees place, adjoining Middleburg, and Joseph Hutchinson 
opened store in the Kremer building. Under the act erecting cir- 
cuit courts, Judge Molton C. Rogers held the first circuit court in 
New Berlin, on the 9th of April. On the loth, Peter Gearhart 
was put on trial for murder ; Bellas and Bradford for the Common- 
wealth, Lashells and Maus for the defendant. (May 16, George A. 
Snyder remarks : " Took Judge Chapman two and one half days to 
try Henry Frock for stealing walnuts, while Judge Rogers, in April, 
tried a murder case, two fornication and adultery cases, in three 
days.") 

14th April, act establishing the Mifflinburg academy. — Pamphlet 
Laws, 322. Henry Yearick, James Appleton, Jacob Maize, James 
Merrill, John Forster, Joseph Musser, Michael Roush, Thomas Van- 
valzah, and John F. Wilson, trustees. Three trustees to be elected 
annually by the people of the county. 

April 13, the borough of Selinsgrove incorporated. — Pamphlet 
Laws, 278. 14th April, the borough of Mifflinburg incorporated, 
by the following boundaries : Beginning at a post on line of the 
heirs of Jacob Brobst, N. 2° W. 362 ; thence along line of the 
heirs of George Rote, deceased, N. 76° E. 118 ; by the same, S. 2° 
E. 145 ; thence, N. 88° E. 120, to a post in the center of the road 
leading from George Rockey's to Mifflinburg ; thence along the 
center thereof, S. 2° PI, in a line between Michael Bartges, John 
Charles, Conrad Mull, et al., 210; thence along the north side of 
Limestone hill, S. 88° W. 240, to beginning. — Pamphlet Laws, 305. 
These boundaries embrace the whole of Ensign Meen's, the south 
half of Ensign Forster's, and part of the Elias Younkman warrantees. 

July 30, John Musser's (Kelly township) still bursted, and scalded 
himself, James Wilson, and the stiller. They applied to Jonathan 
Spyker to "hex" the fire out of them. 

August 2, William Hayes' store robbed of ^100. The taker con- 
fessed, and Mr. Hayes let him off. Some few years since a person 
from Lewisburg stopped over night at a farm-house in Ohio, and 
recognized in the owner of the fine farm the penitent subject of Mr. 
Hayes' clemency. 

August 25, Lafayette Lodge, New Berlin, appropriated $40 to the 
Greek fund, " to be applied in accelerating the cause of liberty in 



1827.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 493 

Greece," and James Aiken returned to Lewisburg, after an absence 
of two years. Doctor E. Appleton, of New Berlin, made a great 
sensation about a recipe he had made for curing drunkenness. It 
had a great run for awhile, but proved of no account. 

loth September, Peter Nevius, constable, took charge of a party 
of town boys convicted of an affray at Poak's, to convey them to 
jail at New Berlin. On the Shamokin hill he pretended something 
was wrong with the harness, and got out to fix it. The boys saw 
their opportunity, and ran off. As some of them became prominent 
citizens, remarkable for good works, it is not worth while to say who 
they were. 

9th October, John Dreisbach, Ner Middleswarth, Jackson men, 
elected to the Assembly, over James Madden and R. P. Maclay. 
14th, masonic procession at New Berlin. Sixty-seven appeared in 
regalia. Reverend Fries and James Merrill, Esquire, addressed 
them, nth November, John Sheckler's barn burned; fired by his 
aunt, who is deranged. 21st November, snow storm, ground cov- 
ered. December 4, Ner Middleswarth chosen Speaker of the House. 

Marriages. 

February 13, John Yarger to Miss Margaret Kelly, of Hartley, 
by Samuel Haupt, Esquire. April 19, Thomas Wilson, of Kelly, 
to Mrs. Drake. May 10, John Housel to Margaret Musser, daugh- 
ter of Jacob, Esquire. June 5, Saul McCormick to Catherine, 
daughter of Reverend Thomas Hood. August 30, John Magee to 
Susan Struble. 

Deaths. 

Thomas Shipton, Esquire, died in Middleburg, February 4, aged 
seventy -four years. He officiated as justice of the peace for upwards 
of thirty years, and was very highly esteemed. 

Honorable John Macpherson died on the 2d of August, at his 
residence, near Winfield. He served in the navy of the Revolution, 
was badly wounded, and, on that account, received a pension from 
the State. He was associate judge of Northumberland county for 
twenty-three years. 



494 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1828. 

September 26, Mrs. Conrad Foutz, aged eighty-eight, mother of 
Mrs. Charles Cameron, was buried at Lewisburg. Her husband was 
one of the rangers who, with the Groves and Samuel Brady, were a 
great terror to the Indians. Conrad Foutz's grandson, General 
Simon Cameron, was Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln, 
and his great-grandson, J. D. Cameron, Secretary of War under 
General Grant. 



i8^§. 




List of Attorneys — Canal Located — Lewisburg and Mifflinburg 
Turnpike Located. 

ANUARY 5, Frederick Evans and Robert P. Maclay, 
delegates to the State convention which nominated An- 
drew Jackson for President. 

List of attorneys attending February court, Union 
county : James Merrill, John Lashells, John A. Sterrett, John Wyeth, 
Charles Maus, Jacob H. Horning, and James F. Linn ; from Northum- 
berland county, Hugh Bellas, Ebenezer Greenough, Alexander Jor- 
dan, Charles G. Donnel, Samuel J. Packer, and Samuel Hepburn; 
Lycoming, William Cox Ellis, James Armstrong, and Robert Flem- 
ing ; Schuylkill, Charles A. Bradford, Esquire. 

There was not snow sufficient for sleighing during the entire win- 
ter, and arks passed down the river as early as the loth of February. 
2 2d March, public debate at Lewisburg on the question: "Will 
the present Government of the United States decline and fall?" 
Affirmative, Isaac Slenker, J. F. Linn, and Jackson McFadden ; 
negative, James Aiken, Doctor William Joyce, and William Nesbit, 
Esquire; presiding judge. Reverend George Richmond; associates. 
Doctor Thomas Vanvalzah, John Vandyke, Frederick Pontius, T. 
R. Lewis, John Machemer, and John H. Hickok. People from 



1828.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 4gs 

New Berlin, Milton, and all the Valley attended. A majority of the 
judges decided for the negative, Vanvalzah and Lewis dissenting. 
The debate was continued all the afternoon and evening. 26th, 
news arrived that grain had fallen rapidly at Baltimore. All the 
merchants lost heavily. Worth only sixty-five cents. Hayes settled 
with his customers at seventy-two cents per bushel. 

Sunday, 13th April, north-east snow storm prevailed. Laird 
Howard, Francis Wilson, and James F. Linn, only, put in appear- 
ance at Buffalo church. Mr. Hood thought it not worth while to 
preach to three men. This snow storm did a great deal of damage 
to fruit. 30th, Judge Rawle, Robert Farias, and William Wilson, 
engineers to locate the canal, arrived at Lewisburg ; Rothrock, 
draftsman ; Paul Geddes and Joseph Green, chain-carriers. 

^May 13, Isaac Slenker admitted to the bar. Judge Chapman 
'remarked that he passed the best examination had before him in 
five years. 

July 13, Elijah Bacon made his appearance, and preached in the 
Union church. 

August 28, Messrs. Hayes, Caldwell, Cameron, Joyce, and Van- 
valzah, who were representing the interests of the west side, returned 
from Harrisburg, and reported that the canal would be located on 
the east side ; Rawle estimating that the west side would cost ^340,000 
more. Our people, however, believed it the result of intrigue and 
good management. 

September 1 1 , James F. Linn surveyed a route for the turnpike be- 
tween Lewisburg and Miffiinburg. Alexander Graham, James Ged- 
des, William Wilson, William and Daniel Cameron, Jackson McFad- 
din, Robert Hayes, John Reber and, Thomas McGuire, went along 
all the way. Started at eight, and reached Miffiinburg half-past 
four, where Joseph Musser and John Machemer met the party with 
wagons, and took them back. Straight course between the two 
places, S. 71° 39' W., distance, eight miles thirty-four perches. 
12th, the mill, house, and barn, late Adam Wagoner's, on Rapid 
ruri, (now Cowan,) belonging to Jacob Baker's heirs, burned at one 
o'clock last night. Family escaped with difficulty. This was the 

1 Honorable Isaac Slenker studied law with the late James F. Linn, Esquire. 
In 1862 he was elected Auditor G-eneral, and served from May 4, 1863, to May 1, 1866. 
He died at New Berlin, April 17, 1873, aged seventy-three years. 



4()(> Ai\NALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1828. 

second time the mill was burned in Wagoner's time, having been 
burned once fourteen or fifteen years ago. Supposed to be the work 
of an incendiary. 

October i, West Branch division of the canal let at Milton; and a 
horse-race between Petriken's gray and Doctor Getz's mare. The 
gray led three or four lengths ; stakes, ^400. 

September 28, Isaac Bockener, who lived on Colonel Ruhl's place, 
died from the effects of an injury received at David Linn's clover- 
mill. The water-wheel caught his leg, stripped the flesh off, and 
gangrene set in. This mill was erected during this summer. 

October 31, presidential election. Jackson electors had eighty- 
seven, Adams six votes, in Lewisburg. 

November 4, Subscription to the turnpike completed. Wheat 
rose to ^i 25. 29th, the committee met to draft a petition for a 
cross-cut canal to Lewisburg : William Hayes, James Geddes, Wil- 
liam Wilson, Doctor Joyce, and James F. Linn. 

December 22, James F. Linn commenced surveying the turnpike. 
29th, he commenced locating, and got as far as James Harris'. Fin- 
ished on the 30th. 

Marriages. 

3d January, William Miller, of New Berlin, to Miss Elizabeth 
Myers. January 16, by'Mr. Hood, Jacob Derr to Isabella Hunter. 
13th March, John Haus, late deputy sheriff, to Margaret Roush, of 
Mifflinburg, April 8, Mrs. Abigail Iddings, widow of Isaac, married 
to old Mr. Mackey, by James McClellan, Esquire. 28th May, by 
Reverend Richmond, Abner Metzgar to Eleanor Lawshe. Novem- 
ber 6, by Reverend T. Hood, Hugh McLaughlin to Frances, daugh- 
ter of George Derr. nth, by same, John Forster, to Margaret, 
youngest daughter of Doctor Robert Vanvalzah. 20th, Joseph Cham- 
berlin to Nancy Deal. December 9, by Mr. Hood, David Duncan, 
of Centre county, to Miss Susan Hayes, of New Berlin. 



i§i^9- 






Union Hickory Newspaper — Supreme Court Personnel — An Un- 
published Opinion. 

HE winter of 1828-29 particularly unpleasant ; rain fell 
daily for seventy days, and spring was fifteen days later 
than usual, when the weather became suddenly warm. 
June 17, most of the farmers commenced mowing. 
Market price of wheat in May, ^i 40. 

January 27, the turnpike let to John Maclayfor ^3 90 per perch, 
the whole distance from Lewisburg to Mififlinburg. 

February 17, a large meeting held at New Berlin to appoint dele- 
gates to 4th of March convention. George Weirick and William 
Kessler, Esquire, appointed delegates, with instructions to support, 
first, for Governor, George Kremer ; second, Ner Middleswarth ; 
third, Samuel D. Ingham ; and, if neither succeeded, to unite in nom- 
inating a Jackson man, no way connected with the present Adminis- 
tration, by blood or otherwise. 

3d March, an appropriation made by the Legislature for the im- 
provement of Penn's creek. 

May 5 , William Carothers moved the Union Hickory newspaper 
press from New Berlin to Lewisburg, and continued its publication 
till April 13, 1830. In May, James F. Linn surveyed and laid out 
the river road from Lewisburg to Selinsgrove. Jacob K. Boyer, of 
Reading, who had done a large mercantile business, and bought a 
great deal of wheat through Buffalo Valley, was convicted of passing 
counterfeit money. He was said, by the district attorney, to be 
32 4^7 



4g8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1829. 

guilty of the most expert, extensive, and wholesale counterfeiting ever 
known within the United States. 

June 26, Supreme Court personnel : Gibson is a large, portly man, 
somewhat corpulent, small eyes, black hair, clean shaven, noble 
countenance. Rogers, small, thin-faced man, dark hair, no whisk- 
ers, very intelligent countenance. Huston, tall, awkward, promi- 
nent eyebrows, eyes deep set, large nose, iron gray hair, and short 
whiskers. Tod, short, corpulent, red complexion, light hair, very 
little of it, and that frizzled. Smith, short, fat, white headed, large 
nose, large rolling eyes, stooping a little as he walks. 

An Unpublished Opinion. 

Sunbury, June 27, the news arrived of the nomination of Joseph 
Ritner for Governor, by the Anti-Masonic convention, at Harrisburg, 
yesterday. Justice Frederick Smith took his seat in the court-house 
some time before the meeting of the court. Justice Rogers next ap- 
peared, to whom Smith said : " Well, Mr. Rogers, whom think you 
the Anti-Masons have nominated? " Rogers: " I have not heard; 
have you?" Smith: "Yes, they have fixed on Joseph Ritner." "Why, 
the damned fools, what do they think they can do with him. He 
wont get ten thousand votes. Oh, the damned fools, ha! ha! ha!" 
Justice Tod came in next, when Smith went on : " Well, Mr. Tod, 
have you heard whom the Anti-Masons have nominated for Gover- 
nor?" Tod: "No; have you? " Smith: "Joseph Ritner." Tod: 
"Joseph Ritner! Joseph Ritner! Joseph Ritner! Well, I'll vote 
for any Anti-Mason, any Anti-Jackson, Anti-canal candidate ; but 
Joseph Ritner, I won't vote for him, by God ! " Then in sauntered 
Chief Justice Gibson, and Smith began again : " Mr. Chief Justice, 
have you heard whom the Anti -Masons have nominated for Gover- 
nor?" Gibson: "No; who is it?" Smith: "Joseph Ritner." 
Gibson : " Oh, hell ! " The chief justice whistled a slow march, and 
took his seat without further remark. Justice Huston did not enter 
until the court had proceeded to business, so that he delivered no 
opinion on this momentous subject. — G. A. S. 

This year is noted for its tremendous Anti-Masonic excitement. 
September 15, Reverend J. H. Fries delivered an address before the 
Masonic Wolf meeting, in New Berlin, when George Kremer and 



1829.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 4gc) 

John Dreisbach were nominated for Assembly. August 29, the 
Anti-Masonic convention nominated Ner Middleswarth and Philip 
Ruhl. George Bogar, president. Delegates were, Union, Charles 
Maus and George Bogar ; East Buffalo, William L. Harris and Peter 
Voneida ; Hartley, Michael Peters and Daniel Speigelmyer ; White 
Deer, Jacob Sypher and Christian Reichly ; Kelly, Joseph Spotts 
and George Moyer; Mifflinburg, John Montelius and John Van 
Buskirk ; West Buffalo, Henry and David Jordan. Joseph Ritner 
recommended for Governor; county commissioner, William Betz. 
In October, the Ritner vote in Union county was 2,068 ; Wolf, 
for Governor, had 764; Middleswarth and Ruhl had each 1,914; 
Kremer, 810; Driesbach, 971. For Governor^ Ritner had 61 votes 
in Lewisburg, Wolf had 58 votes. 

Horse races very common this year in and about Lewisburg. 
August 20, occurred the one between Sargent's sorrel and " Tam- 
any," of Milton. The Milton people came down and bet all the 
money they had on their favorite ; watches, knives, and, in fact, 
everything they had about them. Sargent's horse won by five to six 
lengths. J. P. Ross used to relate the scenes of this day, and laugh 
until the tears ran down his cheeks. He said the Lewisburg fellows 
had to lend the Milton men money to pay their toll going home. 
October 3, race between John Forster's horse and Silverwood's. 

Thomas Sawyer and family left the Valley for Ohio. Road 
from Chamberlin's mill to Kelly's saw-mill laid out. Farm of Ben- 
jamin Schrack, deceased, appraised at $15 per acre. General Green 
bought the Stedman farm, opposite Lewisburg, one hundred and 
forty-seven acres, at $i(i per acre, cash. December 4, the first 
snow fell. December 28, turnpike managers met, and the commis- 
sioners appointed by the Governor reported it completed. 

Manlages. 

17th January, William Wilson (son of Judge Hugh) to Ruth Wad- 
dell, of Centre county, by Reverend Mr. Todd, at Mifflinburg. 
20th, Walter Devling to Eliza, daughter of Judge Hugh Wilson, by 
Mr. Hood. February 17, Doctor Joseph F. Grier to Margaret, 
daughter of A. Graham. February — , Peter Strayhorn to a daughter 
of James Cornelius. Robert Forster to Miss. Jane Rutherford, of 



500 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1830. 

Harrisburg. February 27, Abraham Amberg to Charlotte Brookes, 
of ChilUcothe, Ohio, formerly of New Berlin. 28th April, Simon 
Grove to Miss Mary Miller, of Reading. 20th May, C. H. Charles, 
of Hartley, to Juliette Mann, of Tioga. 28th May, by Reverend 
T. Hood, Robert Hayes to Emily Fields, (daughter of the bridge- 
builder.) 31st, by Samuel Wilson, Esquire, Henry Benner to Miss 
Moyer, of Union, nth June, George Aurand, Esquire, to Mrs. 
Mary Royer. 23d, by J. F. Linn, Esquire, John Shaw to Margaret 
Baker, at Jacob Musser's hotel. July 2, Daniel K. Hill to Barbara 
A. Musser, Lewisburg. By Reverend James Kay, Christopher Woods, 
junior, to Miss Maria Little, of Lewisburg. July 14, Israel Zent- 
myer to Eve Snook, daughter of John, of West Buffalo. 4th Au- 
gust, by James F. Linn, Esquire, Henry Myers to Hannah Walter. 
nth August, L. B. Christ, Esquire, to Esther Bogar. September 
22, by Reverend Nathaniel Todd, John A. Vanvalzah to Miss Re- 
becca Chambers. 



1830. 




Weather Record — Johnny Morton — Census of 1830. 

N the 1 6th of May, oak leaves made their appearance — 
a very early spring — blossoms all off the trees by the 
30th of April, except apple, which were in bloom two 
or three weeks since. The month of July was excess- 
ively hot. The 1 8th, 20th, and 2 2d, were the warmest days. Sat- 
urday morning, in shade, ninety-three degrees; Monday, ninety-five 
degrees; Wednesday, ninety-five degrees. 

Officers of Lafayette Lodge : H. W. Snyder, W. M. ; George A. 
Snyder, S. W, ; John Seebold, J. W. ; Doctor John Baskins, secre- 
tary ; Henry C. Eyer, treasurer. 

January 11, the New Berlin Anti-Horse-Race Association formed. 



1830.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. joz 

Peter Beaver, president, John Mauck, secretary. February 22, 
James Sargent fell off Kremer's boat, at the mouth of Brown's run, 
and was drowned. March 2, a union agricultural association formed 
at R. H. Hammond's, in Milton, embracing Columbia, Lycoming, 
and Union counties. Dan Caldwell chosen president. March 12, 
Samuel Reber opened hotel at Lochiel now. May i , Daniel Gott- 
shall issued the first number of the Lewisburg Journal. May 28, the 
Mifflinburg Anti-Horse-Racing Association formed ; Henry Yearick, 
president, Frederick Gutelius, secretary. The road between Lewis- 
burg and Mortonsville vacated, and the Turtle Creek road, at the 
latter place, extended to the turnpike. June 12, William Linn sold 
his farm in Kelly to Adam Stahl, for ^34 per acre. October 15, 
farm of C. Nevius, deceased, sold to his son-in-law, Samuel Wilson, 
at I40 per acre. October 21, George Ritter's farm, in Buffalo, sold 
to Roan McClure for $36 25 per acre. August 10, Anti-Masonic 
ticket formed at New Berlin : E. Greenough for Congress, S. J. 
Packer for Senator, Ner Middleswarth and Philip Ruhl for Assembly, 
Peter Hackenburg for commissioner. Democratic ticket : Lewis 
Dewart for Congress, Samuel Bloom for Senator, John Dreisbach 
and Jacob Wittenmeyer for Assembly. October 26, the first agri- 
cultural fair was held at Milton. December 16, Abner C. Harding, 
a student at law with James F. Linn, Esquire, was admitted to the bar.^ 

Johnny Morton. 

Johnny is now dead. I wonder that he lasted so long. Although 
everybody called him ''Johnny," he never suffered himself to be so 
called, without displaying a sense of offended dignity. " My name 
is John," he used to say; " Johnny is a boy's name." He disliked 
also the name of beer ; beer was trash, only fit for hogs ; "a bier 
was a thing for the dead." 

I General Abner C. Harding was born in East Hampton, Connecticut, educated at 
Hamilton, New York, studied law at Lewisburg, and settled finally in tbe State of 
Illinois. He was a member of the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1848, and 
served in the State Legislature in 1848-9-50 ; and was for ten years engaged in man- 
aging railroads. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in the eighty-third Illinois, and 
having been appointed colonel, served at Fort Donfelson ; was made a brigadier gen- 
eral, and had command at Murfreesboro' in 1863. In 1864 he was elected to the 
Thirty-Ninth Congress, serving with Honorable George F. Miller, another student 
of Mr. Linn, in that Congress. He died at Monmouth, Warren county, Illinois: 
July 19, 1874, worth, it is said, over $1,000,000. 



502 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1830. 



Johnny's love of whisky and his hatred of beer afforded abundance 
of amusement to the idle boys of New Berlin and Mifflinburg, who 
flocked around him as soon as he made his appearance in the streets, 
as did the small birds around the owl, who happens to be overtaken 
in the daylight. " Johnny ! Johnny ! do you want any beer ?" was 
shouted by the blackguards ; to which Johnny replied with curses, 
and sometimes with stones. Johnny came to New Berlin one day, 
and having drank, and run the gauntlet of the boys, laid himself 
down upon the door -steps of the jail. The sheriff found him here, 
and, with the assistance of two or three others, carried him into the 
dungeon,^ and made all fast. A few hours afterward one of the 
sheriff's family went to the door to make observations, and heard 
Johnny beginning to stir, probably just waking. After muttering 
something to himself, he was heard to say, " I wonder where I am ?" 
and after a brief pause, '' Well, I guess I am in hell," and, seemingly 
satisfied with this conjecture, quietly laid himself to rest until the 
sheriff came to release him. — G. A. S. 



Census, 1830. 



White Deer, . . . . 1,295 

Kelly, 739 

Mifflinburg, .... 663 

West Buffalo, .... 1,404 

Hartley township, . . 1,730 

Washington, » , . . 1,097 

Perry, 1,050 

Chapman, IJ094 

One male and two female slaves 



Lewisburg, . . . . 924 

Buffalo, 2,130 

Centre, ..... 1,952 

Beaver, ...... 2,280 

Union, 2,085 

Penn's, 2,304 



Total, 



20,747 



1 In all old jails was a room from which the light was altogether excluded, called 
the dungeon, a relic of barbarism or popery now, happily abolished. 



1831. 




Cross-cut Canal — First Temperance Society formed in the Valley — 
Bethel Church Organized. 

ARCH 22, news of the passage of the improvement act; 
and its signature by the Governor, which includes the 
Lewisburg cross-cut, reached Lewisburg. The town 
was illuminated, cannon fired, and toasts drank. North- 
umberland Bank incorporated. — Pamphlet Laws, a^gS. 

April 12, A. Reedy's, deceased, stone house at Buffalo Cross- 
Roads sold by his administrators to John A. Vanvalzah, for ^586. 

May 10, price of grain in Philadelphia, ^i 25. May 12, Messrs. 
Cameron, Vanvalzah, and Joyce returned from Harrisburg, having 
succeeded in getting the cross-cut canal under contract. 

"^ Penny saved is a Penny made — Old Adage. — Canal boat 'Mer- 
chant's Choice,' Captain Blair, arrived here on Monday last, in 
nine days from Philadelphia, with merchandize for Messrs. Comly 
and Cadwallader. Her cargo was twenty tons. 

12 for C. Comly, at ^10, , . . . . ^120 
8 do. S. Cadwallader, ..... 80 



' ' These twenty tons by wagons would come to 600 dollars, at 30 
dollars per ton, or |i 50 per cwt., the usual price. Now, what is 
saved to us, the consumers, in this single trip ? Why, only ^400. 
Sugars we used to pay 12^ cts. per lb. is now sold for 10 cents. 
This is what we call canal politics." — Prick's Miltonian, May 14, 
1831. 

503 



504 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1831. 

Mowing commenced in the Valley as early as the 8th of June. 

4th July celebrated by the Lewisburg Guards and citizens, at 
Brown's spring, below Lewisburg. James Aiken made an address. 

28th September, the first temperance society formed at Lewis- 
burg. Reverend Seiwers delivered an address. Only seven persons, 
John Nesbit, Esquire, James Aiken, James F. Linn, Caroline Gra- 
ham, Mary Irwin, Elizabeth Irwin, and Abner C. Harding joined. 

During this year, the Bethel church in White Deer was organized 
from members of the Buffalo Cross-Roads church \ elders, Andrew 
McClenachan and Matthew Laird. 

Deaths. 

Mrs. Sarah Kelly, wife of Colonel John Kelly, 2d January. She 
went to bed in her usual health the night before ; got up in the 
night and made herself a cup of tea ; was heard to groan, and com- 
plained of pain in her stomach. By the time the family were 
awakened she was dead. She was a daughter of James Poak, sister 
of Mrs. Darraugh. 

23d May, Thomas Wilson, of Kelly, died. He was injured on 
Thursday, 19th, by a log falling from the top of a wagon-wheel 
upon him. 






i83^. 



Lewisburg Presbyterian Church Built — Laurelton Church Organ- 
ized—Sketch OF Colonel John Kelly. 




ARCH 4, General Abbot Green, delegate to the State 
convention to form an electoral ticket. 5th, A. C. 
Harding addressed the temperance society and sixty- 
eight names were added. 17th March, over ^3,000 
subscribed to build a Presbyterian church in Lewisburg, and Gen- 
eral Green, Alexander Graham, James Geddes, Thomas Clingan, 
William L. Harris, Doctor Thomas Vanvalzah, and William Nesbit 
directed, as trustees, to go on with the building. 

4th May, Samuel Oaks, Colonel Thomas Smith, and Abraham 
Straub appointed to run the county line of Lycoming and Union : 
Beginning at a marked red oak, 58 perches above Lafferty's run, S. 
89° W., until it intersects the original division line between North- 
umberland and Lycoming; thence along the same to the Centre 
county line. — Pamphlet Laws, 458. 

July 4, thirty-seven survivors of the Revolution still living in 
Union county. Twenty -six joined in the procession at the celebra- 
tion in New Berlin to-day ; among them were John Linn, Frederick 
Bingaman, Hugh Wilson, George Engle, Christopher Seebold, and 
John Wilson. Isaac Slenker, Esquire, delivered an oration, and 
afterwards entertained the old soldiers at his house. Ice was then 
just coming into use, and one old gentleman was observed picking 
the pieces out of his brandy. He thought it was glass. 

August 9 was observed as a day of fasting and prayer to avert the 

505 



50b ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1832. 

cholera. On the i6th Doctor Ezra Styles Ely preached at Lewisburg. 
His delivery was rapid, but his discourse he seemed to make very 
plain to every one. The Laurelton church was organized — an off- 
shoot of the Buffalo Cross-Roads Presbyterian church. 

Colonel John Kelly. 

Colonel Kelly died on the i8th of February, aged eighty-eight. 
The following sketch of him is taken from an address made by James 
Merrill, Esquire, on the 8th of April, 1835, when the monument, 
purchased by his relatives, was put in position with public ceremony. 

Colonel John Kelly was born in Lancaster county, in this State, 
in February, 1744. After the purchase from the Indians of 1768, 
and before the opening of the land office in 1769, he came to Buf- 
falo Valley, then a part of Berks county. Here he suffered all the 
hardships and privations, which are inseparable upon the first settle- 
ment of a new country. He was tall, about six feet two inches in 
height, vigorous and muscular, with his body so inured to labor as 
to be almost insensible to fatigue, and a mind so accustomed to dan- 
gers, that dangers ceased to alarm. In the prime of manhood, and 
in the vigor of health, with intelligence to understand correct prin- 
ciples, and with firmness to adhere to them, it may well be supposed 
that he took a commanding position among his fellows. He was a 
captain, and a major at twenty-seven years of age, and when his 
country called on her sons to save her from the fangs of a tyrant, 
he was ready. At the very darkest period of the revolutionary war, 
when all was lost, but honor and hope, and when hope was almost 
buried in despair, in the fall of 1776, he volunteered to assist in the 
protection of New Jersey. He was present at Trenton, when the 
Hessians surrendered, and assisted in that most masterly movement 
on Princeton, by which the chain of communications of the enemy 
was broken, all their plans deranged, and their army compelled to 
return to New York and its neighborhorhood, and to leave New Jersey 
free to avenge her wrongs. When we consider the depression of public 
spirit, how public confidence in the final success of our cause was shaken 
by the battle of Long Island, and the losses of Fort Washington and 
Lee, with most of our military stores ; when we consider that at one time 
the American army numbered less than two thousand men, we would 



1832.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 507 

not think it wonderful if all should have been given up for lost — and 
so it would, if the stake had been less. But our people believed that 
they had no right to abandon their cause of liberty. They were 
bound to protect it for themselves, and upon their success depended 
the freedom of their posterity. They must decide, whether or not, 
their children should be slaves. They must decide whether all peo- 
ple must bow their necks to the iron yoke of despotism, or whether 
they might anticipate a time when free institutions should prevail 
through the world. Our friend and his confederates of that day 
might have retired into an ignoble and contemptible security. They 
might have said, what is New Jersey to us ? We have homes and 
firesides, which may be endangered. But they argued better : if 
we refuse to come to the rescue, we cannot expect security. We 
cannot propitiate the monster tyranny, by shrinking from our duty. 
Influenced by these considerations, our friends went to the rescue of 
our sister State. 

Our friend joined the army fully resolved to do his duty. Then 
was the time to test his vigor of body, as well as the firmness of his 
mind. For three days at one time, there was no regular service of 
provisions, and for more than thirty-six hours, at another time, they 
were constantly on the march, or in action, without a moment's sleep 
or giving up their arms. In the course of one of their retreats, the 
commander-in-chief, through Colonel Potter, sent an order to Major 
Kelly to have a certain bridge cut down to prevent the advance of 
the British, who were then in sight. The major sent for an axe ; 
but represented that the enterprise would be very hazardous. Still 
the British advance must be stopped, and the order was not with- 
drawn. He said he could not order another to do what some might 
say he was afraid to do himself; he would cut down the bridge. 

Before all the logs on which the bridge lay were cut off, he was 
completely within the range of the British fire, and several balls 
struck the log on which he stood. The last log broke down sooner 
than he expected, and he fell with it into the swollen stream. Our 
soldiers moved on, not believing it possible for him to escape. He, 
however, by great exertions, reached the shore through the high 
Avater and the floating timber, and followed the troops. Incumbered, 
as he must have been, with his wet and frozen clothes, he, on his road, 
made a prisoner of a British scout, an armed soldier, and took him 



S08 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1832. 

into camp. What did Curtius do more than this ? If such an in- 
stance of devoted heroism had happened in Greece or Rome, the day 
would have been distinguished from all other days. A medal would 
have been struck, and every means used to secure the everlasting re- 
membrance of such a deed. In England such a man would have 
been made a knight or a lord, with the thanks of Parliament. In 
our poor devoted land such instances were too common to receive 
especial notice. History mentions that our army was preserved by 
the destruction of that bridge ; but the manner in which it was done, 
or the name of the person who did it, is not mentioned. It was but 
one of a series of heroic acts, which happened every day, and our 
soldiers then were more familiar with the sword than with the pen. 
As we have met to erect a marble tomb over the remains of that 
individual, it is right for us to bring out this act into more bold 
relief. 

Let it be borne in mind, that at this time no arrangement had been 
made respecting prisoners ; that the British commanders only admit- 
ted that they arrested rebels, and not that they took prisoners of war. 
Thus all who fought on our side, in addition to the common dan- 
gers of war, might expect, if taken, to suffer an ignominious death. 
After his discharge, Major Kelly returned to his farm and his family, 
and during the three succeeding years the Indians were troublesome 
neighbors to this then frontier settlement. He became colonel of 
the regiment, and it was his duty to keep watch and ward against 
the incursions of hostile Indians, through our mountain passes. At 
one time our people were too weak to resist, and our whole beautiful 
country was abandoned. Colonel Kelly was among the first to re- 
turn — for at least two harvests reapers took their rifles to the fields, 
and some of the company watched while others wrought. Colonel 
Kelly had the principal command of the scouting parties in this Val- 
ley, and very often he was out in person. Many and many nights 
has he lain among the limbs of a fallen tree to keep himself out of 
the mud, without a fire, because a fire would indicate his position to 
the enemy. He had become well skilled in their mode of warfare. 
One circumstance deserves particular notice. The Indians seem to 
have resolved on his death, without choosing to attack him openly. 
One night he had reason to apprehend that they were near. He rose 
in the morning, and, by looking through the crevices of his log-house, 



1832.] . ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. sog 

he ascertained that two, at least, if not more, were laying with their 
arms, so as to shoot him when he should open his door. He fixed 
his own rifle, and took his position, so that by a string he could open 
the door, and watch the Indians. The moment he pulled the door 
open, two balls came into the house, and the Indians rose to advance. 
He fired and wounded one, and both retreated. After waiting to 
satisfy himself that no others remained, he followed them by the 
blood ; but they escaped. 

For many years Colonel Kelly held the office of a magistrate of 
the county. In the administration of justice, he exhibited the same 
anxiety to do right, and the same disregard of self gain, which had 
characterized him in the military service of the country. He would at 
any time forgive his own fees, and if the parties were poor, pay the 
constable's costs, to procure a compromise. While, by industry and 
economy, his own pecuniary circumstances were comfortable and 
easy, he seemed to desire the prosperity of all men, and most anxi- 
ously to desire, that all neighbors should be friends. No man ever 
in vain sought his interposition to reconcile conflicting interests, to 
soothe angry passions, to stand, as the defender and protector of 
the poor man, the widow, and the orphan. 

He obeyed the injunction, "be given to hospitality." There are 
few middle aged men in this country, who have not experienced 
the cordial welcome, which every friend received at his house. It 
is true, that so general is the hospitality of his neighborhood that 
the want of it would be considered a great vice ; but in him it was 
a part of the same character, indicating a freedom from selfishness, an 
inability to enjoy fully God's bounties alone ; a feeling that a good 
thing is rendered far more valuable by participation ; and a convic- 
tion that the diffusion of happiness is not merely light in itself, but 
the source of great joy to every well-regulated mind. 

Colonel Kelly was an affectionate husband, and a kind and judicious 
father, as well as a friendly and hospitable neighbor. 

Thus have we seen our venerable friend performed his domestic, 
social, military, and political duties in such a manner as to entitle 
himself to the love and esteem of his neighbors, and to the thanks 
and honors of his countrymen and of posterity. It may be asked, 
could a man so punctiliously perform all those duties, and leave out 
of his regard his obligations to his Maker? No, indeed, my friends, 



Sro ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1832. 

he did not lack that crowning virtue. He was a sincere and an 
exemplary Christian, and he adorned all his other virtues by exhibit- 
ing a pattern of humility well worthy of imitation. Having no 
anxieties who should be greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, he had 
no striving who should be greatest in the Church on earth, his pro- 
fession of religion was well sustained by his practice. 

Towards the end of a long and active life, Colonel Kelly became, 
by disease, incapable of much motion, and seldom left his home. He 
seemed to be retiring from public view, and preparing to leave this 
world when he should be called. He had that true characteristic of 
bravery, an indisposition to fight his battles over again, and that 
feeling of humility, that where a man has only done his duty, boast- 
ing has no place. It is in some measure owing to this reserve 
that our notice of his life must be so brief and so imperfect. He 
seemed not to know, that other men would have done differently from 
him; but to believe that whatever distinguished him from others, 
arose mainly from the circumstances under which he acted. We 
are of another generation, and his contemporaries have either gone 
down to the grave, or through lapse of time and failing faculities, 
are unable to give particular details. From himself, but a few glean- 
ings from a life long and full of incidents, have been obtained. 

His last end proved his character to be consistent. He met the 
grim messenger calmly; "■ for he knew in whom he had trusted;" and 
he could ' ' walk through the valley and shadow of death, fearing no 
evil." Age brought its weakness, no doubt. The frame was bent, 
and the muscles relaxed; but the mind — the immortal mind — could 
not be obscured. It brightened more and more ' ' unto the perfect 
day." He has passed beyond "that bourne, whence no traveler re- 
turns." He has gone, we humbly trust, to that Heaven where " there 
remaineth a rest for the righteous, and where the wicked cease from 
troubling." Emphatically may it be said, that after a life well 
spent, and in firm hope of a resurrection to immortal glory, at the 
age of eighty-eight years, he departed, leaving his memory to our 
care and his virtues for our imitation — -James Merrill, Esquire's, 
Address. 

Colonel Kelly's children were : James, who moved to Penn's val- 
ley, and died there. He was the father of Honorable James K. 
Kelly, United States Senator, of Portland, Oregon ; John, who also 



1833.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 511 

moved to Penn's valley ; William, who married a daughter of Archi- 
bald Allison, of Centre county, and died, January 27, 1830; An- 
drew, a bachelor, who was born 1783, and died on the old place, 
September 24, 1867, aged eighty- four ; Samuel Kelly, of Armstrong 
county, Pennsylvania ; Elizabeth, married to Simeon Howe ; Maria, 
married to John Campbell, of Lewisburg ; Robert, who died April 
12, 1865, aged seventy-seven; Joseph, died March 2, i860, aged 
sixty-six; David H. Kelly, Esquire, deceased, late county commis- 
sioner of Union county. 

I note, also, the death of Reverend Thomas Smiley, aged seventy- 
three, born (in Dauphin county now) in 1 759, of Scotch-Irish parent- 
age. Served in Colonel Curtis Grubb's battalion of militia. Ordained 
in December, 1802. Settled in White Deer in 1808, where he estab- 
lished the first regular Baptist church within the bounds of Union 
county. 



1833- 



Methodist Church in Lewisburg Dedicated — The Presbyterian Church 
Completed, and the German Church Commenced — Eain of Fire — 
Court and Lawyers. 

ANUARY 5, the new Methodist church, on Third street, 
Lewisburg, consecrated. The weather was so warm that 
the windows had to be opened. Sunday, 6th, Reverend 
Mr. Steele preached in a. m., in the new church. Mr. 
Hood in p. m. Weather still very warm. The i ith of January was 
probably the coldest day of the year. 

January 30, David Myers, of East Buffalo, who was kicked in the 
abdomen by a horse, on Monday, 28th, died to-day. 

March 21, J. F. Quay, J. F. Murray, and David Rockefeller ap- 
pointed to run the division line between Lycoming and Union 
counties. 




512 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1833. 

May 31, Jesse Cornelius, miller, at Trester's old mill, on Turtle 
creek, was caught in the machinery. Ribs, breast bone, &c., broken. 
He died immediately. 

July 26, Ephraim Darraugh's widow buried at Lewisburg. 31, 
Presbyterian church building completed, and on the 4th of Au- 
gust Mr. Hood preached the first sermon therein, on the text, " Re- 
member the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." August 31, Thomas 
Clingan, William Nesbit, Esquire, Robert H. Laird, and James F. 
Linn were elected elders. 

September 30, Reverend Mathew Laird married, at Mr. Hood's, 
to Miss Harriet Myer, school-teacher at Lewisburg. They sailed, 
on 15 th October, as missionaries to Africa. 

October 15, Thomas Jones, inn-keeper, died. 18, Roan McClure, 
after fifteen minutes' sickness. 

November 4, a subscription was started, for the purpose of build- 
ing a Union German Reformed and Lutheran church, on Third and 
St. Lewis streets, in Lewisburg, to be called St. Lewis church, " in 
honor of the original proprietor of the borough, and the benefactor, 
(Ludwig Derr,) who gave three lots for religious use." 

On 19th May, 1834, John Reber, John Snook, and Henry Noll, 
elders ; Henry Noll and Ludwig Long, deacons of the German Pres- 
byterian congregation, entered into an agreement with Jonathan 
Spyker and John Gundy, trustees of the German Lutheran congre- 
gation, giving the latter " the same privilege of the German burying- 
ground, which Ludwig Derr, in his liftetime, gave to the German 
Presbyterian congregation, being on lots Nos. 121, 123, and 125, 
as well as an equal privilege of the church built or building on said 
ground, to be tenants in common," &c. See deed book K, pages 
173 and 174, (at Lewisburg.) In the year 185 1, the Lutheran con- 
gregation bought out the interest of the German Reformed, the lat- 
ter having built on the corner of St. John and Third streets. 

November 13, from two o'clock until daylight occurred a fire- 
storm, or the fall of small particles of fire, which appeared to extin- 
guish a few feet from the ground. It was observed all through Buf- 
falo Valley. 

December 7, the first boats passed through the Lewisburg cross- 
cut. December 29, Lorenzo Dow preached at Lewisburg. 30th, 
Johnpterk, Esquire, of Beaver, a member of the Legislature, from 



1834.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. jrj 

that county, visited Lewisburg. He is is a son of Walter Clark, de- 
ceased, one of the first settlers on Buffalo creek. 31st, Mrs. Hayes, 
mother of William, (merchant formerly,) died suddenly. 

Court and Lawyers . 

At September term the grand jury of the county, William Forster, 
foreman, petitioned the Governor for the appointment of William 
W. Potter, Esquire, of Bellefonte, as president judge, vice Seth 
Chapman, resigned. On the i6th of December Judge Ellis Lewis' 
commission as president judge was read, who, with Hugh Wilson 
and General Adam Light, associates, comprised the court. George 
F. Miller and Samuel Weirick, Esquires, were admitted to the bar 
on the 15 th of May. 



1834. 




Eclipse of the Sun — Anti-School Meetings — Election Eeturns. 

sRICE of wheat in Philadelphia, in May, ^i 10; in Sep- 
tember, $1 04; corn, 64; rye, 65. There was no snow 
during the month of February, and the weather was 
^ as mild as it usually is in April. On the nights of the 
31st of May and the ist of June occurred a black frost so severe as 
to kill the leaves of almost every species of plants in this part of the 
country. Even the locust, a hardy tree, did not escape. Cherries 
apples, peaches, and all orchard and garden fruits, except currants 
and gooseberries, perished. Bears, missing their summer supply of 
whortleberries, came down from the hills to feed upon the green 
corn, and were killed in unusual numbers. It was interesting to see 
robins, woodpeckers, and other birds now searching among the 
limbs of the trees for caterpillars and other insects ; fortunately the 
33 



514 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1834. 

caterpillars were prodigiously numerous. During the summer, bitu- 
minous coal was received at Lewisburg from the western part of the 
State, by the canal, and sold at twenty-five cents per bushel. At 
Hartleton, R. H. Kerr was postmaster ; and J. H. Seiwers was prin- 
cipal of the academy at Lewisburg. 

February 2, Lorenzo Dow died at Georgetown, D. C. March 
18, Charles Sargent (son of J,ohn, inn-keeper,) found drowned be- 
low Brown's mill. Has been missing since the i6th. He was de- 
deranged. 30th, Mr. Hood preached his last sermon as pastor. 
April 10, John Moore, merchant, of Lewisburg, died. Reverends 
Henry Tarring and Oliver Ega, Methodist ministers for this circuit 
this year. April 21, Joseph Evans, of Lewisburg, found drowned 
in the canal at Selinsgrove. Job Harvey, a young preacher of 
the Christian church, preached his funeral sermon. May 19, cor- 
ner-stone of German church in Lewisburg laid. J. H. Fries, pas- 
tor. June 19, Howard Vanvalzah, son of Doctor Thomas, fell 
from the steeple of the new German church to the ground, striking 
the timbers as he fell, his thigh and leg broken. He fell forty-five 
feet. (He is still living at Lewistown.) June 30, news arrived of 
the death of Reverend Matthew Laird and his wife, missionaries in 
Africa. He died on the 4th of May, his wife on the 3d. Wed- 
nesday, 9th July, thermometer at ninety-nine degrees in shade. 
July 28, John Geary, an apprentice of David Ginter, drowned at 
the upper landing in Lewisburg, last night. November 13, Pres- 
bytery met at Lewisburg, and ordained and installed Reverend P. 
B. Marr, pastor of that church. Sunday, 30th r\ovember, eclipse 
of the sun. Began quarter before one, went off twenty-five minutes 
past three. During its greatest obscuration it became very cold, and 
it seemed like a bright, moonlight night, and one star was visible. 

Anil-School Meeting. 

Agreeably to public notice, the citizens of Union county opposed 
to the school law passed at the last session of the Legislature, met at 
the court-house, in New Berlin, on Thursday, the i8th September^ 
when Henry Yearick, Esquire, was called to the chair; Robert Tay- 
lor, Esquire, was appointed vice president ; and John Montelius and 
John Snyder were appointed secretaries. On motion of the Honor- 



1834.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. s^S 

able George Kremer, a committee of fifteen were appointed to draft 
a preamble and resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting ; 
whereupon, the following persons were appointed, viz : 

George Kremer, Peter Richter, Doctor John G. Piper, Frederick 
Pontius, Abbot Green, John Boyer, Frederick Kremer, John S. 
Ingram, George Schnable, John Zigler, James Madden, Henry 
Roush, Henry C. Eyer, John Snyder, John Reber, junior. 

After retiring a short time, returned and reported the following, 
which were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, The Legislature of Pennsylvania, at their late session, 
passed a law known as the common school law, the principles of 
which we consider dangerous to our rights and destructive of our 
interests \ therefore, be it 

Resolved, That, in the opinipn of this meeting, it behooves us to 
use every honorable means in our power to procure a prompt repeal 
of the law in question. 

Resolved, That the chair appoint two persons from each town- 
ship or borough in the county, as the case may be, whose duty it 
shall be to act as delegates for their respective districts, and bring 
with them the election returns, which will take place to-morrow, for 
the adoption or rejection of the school law, and report the same to 
this meeting. 

Resolved, That should a school man, by mistake, be selected by 
the chair, he shall be rejected by the anti-school delegate of that 
district, &c., who shall have full power to supply his place with a 
man opposed to the school law. 

Resolved, That this meeting adjourn to meet again at the court- 
house, in New Berlin, on Tuesday next, at one o'clock in the after- 
noon, and that the present officers are again requested to preside, to 
adopt further measures in relation to this oppressive law. 

The following persons were appointed by the chair, as delegates 
from the several townships, to meet in New Berlin, on Tuesday, the 
23d instant, viz : 

East Buffalo — Philip Ruhl, Peter Voneida, 

Lewis burg — William Hayes, Jacob Zentmire. 

Kelly — Laird Howard, George Meixell. 

White Deer — John Rank, Jacob Sypher. 

Union — John S. Ingram, Michael Benfer. 



5r6 AANALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. iVSU. 

Chapman — Frederick Kremer, John Snyder. 
Washington — John Boyer, Henry Hilbish. 
Fenn's — Peter Richter, George Miller. 
Perry — George Shetterly, senior, Joseph Schnee. 
Centre — George Kremer, Henry Bolender. 
Beaver — John Highley, John Shipton. 
Centreville — Stephen Bruce, George Weirick. 
Hartleton — James Madden^ George Ruhl. 
West Buffalo — Robert Taylor, John Reber, junior. 
Mifflinburg — Henry Yearick, John Montehus. — Times, Septem- 
ber 19, 1834. 

Anil- School Delegate Meeting. 

At a meeting of the delegates appointed by the anti-school 
meeting of the 18th instant, held at the court-house, in New Berlin, 
on Tuesday last, Henry Yearick, Esquire, presided ; assisted by 
John Montelius and Captain John Snyder, as secretaries. 

The names of the delegates having been called, the following 
gentlemen were present, representing the different townships, as fol- 
lows : 

Union — John S. Ingram, Michael Benfer. 

Hartley — James Madden, Esquire, George Ruhl. 

West Buffalo — Robert Taylor, John Stees, junior. 

Mifflinburg — Henry Yearick, John Montelius. 

East Buffalo — Philip Ruhl, Peter Voneida. 

Lewisburg — George Schnabel, Jacob Zentmire. 

White Deer — Jacob Sypher, Samuel Baker. 

Kelly — John Hummel, Joseph Spotts. 

Chapfnan — John Snyder, Frederick Kremer. 

Pemi s — Peter Richter, George Miller. 

Perry — George Shetterly, Joseph Schnee. 

Centre — George Kremer, Henry Bolender. 

Beaver — John Highley, John Shipton. 

Washington — John Boyer, Henry Hilbish. 

On motion of James Madden, Esquire, a committee of nine dele- 
gates were appointed by the chair to draft a preamble and resolu- 
tions, expressive of the sentiments of the delegation. 

Whereupon, the chair appointed George Kremer, John S. Ingram, 



1834.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. ^tj 



Peter Richter, Henry Hilbish, George Schnabel, James Madden, 
Jacob Sypher, Philip Ruhl, and John Reber, junior. 

The committee retired a short time and reported the following, 
which were unanimously adopted : 

Preamble and Resolutions. 

Fellow-Citizens : Your committee view with deep interest the 
law of our last Legislature, creating a system of education by com- 
mon schools. They consider it as affecting the interests and en- 
croaching upon the rights of the honest and industrious citizens of 
the Commonwealth. They view the system as unwarranted by the 
Constitution, and at war with the interests of every useful member 
of the community ; as a system of education was only asked, and 
not one of unjust and unequal taxation. For these reasons, and 
others, we oppose the bill, urging our constitutional objections, and 
will merely here state its local effects upon the county of Union. 

The ^75,000 appropriated for common school purposes, of which 
Union county will be entitled to about $1,100, is a fund arising 
from the unpatented lands in this Commonwealth. Owing to the 
scarcity of money, the law has, from year to year, been extended ; 
but as this amount is now appropriated, and will be drawn out of 
the treasury, consequently, all those whose lands are unpatented, 
will now be compelled to pay, as the finances of the Commonwealth 
will not warrant a longer credit. All men know its enormous debt 
and embarrassed condition. 

By the law in question. Union county must raise $2,200, double 
the amount of the appropriation, to entitle them to the proffer made 
by the Legislature. To this add our already exhorbitant State tax, 
of about $3,000, and we have upwards of $5,000 to pay by taxa- 
tion, for merely receiving the bill. 

Agreeable to the law, the six directors are to divide each town- 
ship into as many school districts, and build as many school-houses 
as they may think proper; and this additional debt you will be 
bound to pay by taxation, which will amount to at least $800 for 
every township io the county, making a sum total of $17,000, adding 
the other taxes imposed by this bill. 

To this may be added the teachers. Suppose each township have 
six teachers, who cannot be engaged at a less expense than $250 



5i8 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1834. 



per annum, each, making a gross amount of ^1,500 per annum for 
each township, the whole cost for this purpose in the county would 
be $22,500. Deduct from this the ^^1,100 proffered by the Legis- 
lature, and the people have $21,400 to pay for teachers, $17,000 
for buildings, $2,200 for accepting the proffer — making a sum total 
of $40,600, all to be paid by the people by various taxations. 

Resolved, That five persons be appointed a committee to draw 
petitions to be signed by the citizens of this county, praying the Le- 
gislature to repeal the school law for Union county. 

Resolved, That the chair appoint two persons in each township, 
who shall have authority to appoint as many more as may be neces- 
sary in each township to solicit subscribers to said petition. 

Resolved, That the chair appoint a committee of five persons, a 
corresponding committee to correspond with other committees in 
this Commonwealth to procure a repeal of the school law in this 
Commonwealth. 

On motion George Kremer, John S. Ingram, and Philip Ruhl 
were appointed a committee to prepare and publish a petition for 
a repeal of the law in question. 

The chair then appointed Peter Richter, John S. Ingram, George 
Kremer, George Schnabel, and John Reber, junior, a committee 
of correspondence, in accordance with a resolution of the committee 
of nine. 

On motion, it was then Resolved, That the delegates of this con- 
vention act as township committees to circulate and procure signers 
to the petitions praying for a repeal of the school law. 

On motion of John S. Ingram, the secretary was called upon to 
report the votes at the different township elections held on Friday, 
the 19th instant; which was carried, and the following result ex- 
hibited, viz : 



Townships 
Union, . . 
Hartley, 
West Buffalo, 
Miffliiiburg, 
East Buffalo, 
Lewisburg, 
White Deer, 
Kelly, . . 
Chapman, . 
Penn's, . . 



A gainst 


For 


School. 


School. 


205 


— 


144 


30 


187 


7 


67 


41 


87 


3 


55 


71 


26 


52 


70 


7 


71 


1 


198 


55 



Townships . 
Perry, . . . 
Centre, . . . 
Beaver, . . . 
Washington, . 



Against For 

School. School. 

63 — 

170 — 

192 — 

85 — 



1620 
267 



267 



Balance vs. school, 1353 votes. 



1834.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. j-zp 



Poliiical. 

Delegates to the 4th of March convention, " to oppose executive 
usurpation," Simon Shaffer, William Cameron, Ner Middleswarth, 
William L. Harris, George Weirick, and R. P. Maclay. 

Delegate Meeting. — On Tuesday last the delegates from the dif- 
ferent townships of Union county, representing the Anti -Masons, 
assembled at the court-house, in New Berlin. Samuel Paulding, of 
Penn's, was called to the chair, and Solomon Engle, Esquire, of 
Centre, appointed secretary. 

As soon as the meeting was thus organized, George Aurand, 
Esquire, of Centre, rose, and moved that no delegate be received 
in this convention, unless he be ?i pure Anti-Mason. This motion, 
however, was postponed until after the credentials had been pre- 
sented. 

The credentials were then presented, in regular order, which com- 
prised the following delegation : 

Centre — Ge(;^rge Aurand, Solomon Engle. 

Union — Henry Frock, George Schnee. 

Mlffllnburg — Jacob Haus, David Eckstein. 

Lewlsburg — Doctor I. S. Vorse, G. F. Miller. 

East Buffalo — Peter Wise, Robert Laird. 

West Buffalo — Samuel B. Barber, John Kutz. 

Hartley — William Glover, Jacob Snyder. 

Kelly — John Hiunmel, Joseph Lawson. 

Penn's — Samuel Paulding, Philip Gemberling. 

Beaver — Archibald Thomas, John Reger. 

Washington — J. P. Hackenberg, Jacob Garman. 

Perry — Michael Gougler, John Weimen. 

Centrevllle — Jonathan Farnsworth, S. Bruce, 

The credentials being thus presented in due order, when Lewis- 
burg came in turn. Doctor Vorse rose and stated that a motion had 
been made to expel any member of the convention who was not an 
avowed Anti-Mason. He said he did not wish to act the hypocrite, 
and consequently he would inform the convention that he was not 
an Anti-Mason — that he was an anti-Jackson man — that he came 
here to represent that portion of the borough of Lewisburg who 
were opposed to Jackson, and that while he would perform such 



520 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1834- 

incumbent duty, he wished it to be distinctly understood that he 
had no claims to the character of an Anti-Mason. 

Mr. Aurand then stated that as he was not a political Anti-mason, 
he would move that he be not permitted to occupy a seat in the 
convention. 

Mr. Miller, his colleague, then rose, and hoped that the conven- 
tion would not act rashly on this subject ; that Doctor Vorse was 
not in an individual capacity, but serving as the representative of 
the party in Lewisburg; that he had his instructions and would 
conform to them. He hoped such a vote would not be taken. 

Mr. Aurand, however^ persisted in the vote, which was taken, and 
resulted as follows : 

For rejection, 23 votes. 

For retention, 2 votes. 

Doctor Vorse was, therefore, ejected from the convention. He 
rose, and returned his thanks to the meeting for their kind treatment; 
and while he expressed his regret at having put the gentlemen to so 
much trouble, he retired from any participation in the proceedings, 
considering the decision a very curious one. 

Mr. Miller then moved that Lewisburg be entitled to a full repre- 
sentation, by suffering the remaining delegate to have two votes ; 
but on the question, " Shall Lewisburg have a full representation?" 
it was decided in the negative. 

The convention then proceeded to make nominations, which re- 
sulted in the following ticket : 

J^'or Congress — Samuel J. Packer. 

JFor Senate — Robert P. Maclay. 

I^or Assembly — Simon Shaffer and Ner Middleswarth. 

For Coroner — Jacob Aurand arid Daniel Winter. 

J^or Commissioner — James Harrison. 

For Auditor — Jacob H. Hummel. 

For Trustees — Israel Gutelius, John Kutz, and Samuel Wright. 

Mr. Aurand then offered the following resolution ; which was 
adopted : 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to address James Mer- 
rill, Esquire, on the subject of Masonry, and to request an explana- 
tion on that subject, in terms which he may think most proper. 



1834.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 521 

Whereupon the chair appointed George Aurand, J. P. Hackenberg, 
and J. H. Horning, Esquires. 

On motion, WilUam Glover and George F. Miller were appointed 
conferees, to meet other congressional conferees at Milton. 

On motion, David Eckstein and Solomon Engle, Esquire, were 
appointed senatorial conferees, to meet similar conferees at Lewisburg. 

The following persons were then appointed a standing committee 
for the ensuing year, viz : Jacob Fryer, Jacob Haus, Joseph Lawson, 
Matthew Brewer,, S. Weirick, George Schnee, and Jacob Snyder. 

It was then 

Resolved, That the convention adjourn, and that the proceedings 
be published in all the papers. — Times, August 8. 

Democratic Convention. 

On Tuesday last, the following delegates, from the different town- 
ships of Union county, met at the court-house, in New Berhn, to 
form a ticket for support at the next general election, viz : 

Union — Jacob Spangler, Jesse Beaver. 

Buffalo — Hugh Wilson, junior, Samuel Reber. 

West Biffalo — Robert Taylor, Thomas Forster. 

Penn's — C. M. Straub, Isaac Hottenstein. 

Chapman — John Snyder, Philip Herold. 

Mifflinburg — Michael Schoch, Thomas McCurdy. 

Lewisburg — John Nesbit, Joseph Hutchinson. 

Centre — George Kremer, John Bower. 

Hartley — George Roush, Andrew Cook. 

Beaver — George Swartz, Thomas Youngman. 

Perry — Philip Benner, George Shetterly. 

Kelly — Alexander McClure, John Young. 

White Deer — Samuel Baker, William Mackey. 

The convention was organized by electing Captain Alexander Mc- 
Clure, president ; Robert Taylor, Esquire, vice president, and Joseph 
Hutchinson, secretary. 

On motion, it was unanimously 

Resolved, That no candidate, for any office, should be considered 
nominated, who had not a majority of all the votes of the delegates 
present. 



S22 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1834. 



The following nominations of candidates were then made, and re- 
sulted as follows : Senator, Isaac Slenker. Assembly, Captain Jacob 
Hummel and James McClure. Commissioner, Peter Beaver. Auditor, 
Martin Dreisbach. Coroner, Jacob McCorley. Trustees of the Mif- 
flinburg Academy, Philip Pontius, Samuel Barber, and William Ir- 
win. — Times, August 15. 



OFFICIAL ELECTION BETITBNS. 



Districts. 



Union, . . , 

White Deer, , 

Kelly, . . , 
Lewisburg, 
East Buffalo, 
West Buffalo, 

Miff] in burg, , 

Hartley, . . , 
Centreville, 

Penn's, . . , 

Centre, . . . 

Beaver, . . , 

Washington, , 

Chapman, . , 

Perry, , . , 



CONG'SS. SENATE. 



216 
P3 

45 
J 05 
158 
117 

86 

192 

6 

254 

76 

61 
109 
115 

82 



120 

47 

4B 

55 

137, 

86' 

48' 

112 

73 

124' 

1711 

242 

68 

31| 

41! 

i 



CO 



241 
105 

64 
134 
148 
114 

75 

191 

5 

233 

55 

49 
100 
102 

84 



Total 1716 1398 1700 1320 1389 1599 1745 1396 1866 1324 



31 

24 

17 

123 

78 

56 

99 

73 

141 

189 

253 

76 

32 

40 



ASSEMBLY. 



150 
55 
21 

100 

186 

101 
88 

153 
12 

148 
61 
33 
95 

108 
78 



220 
79 
56 
85 

122 
90 
78 

169 
7 

233 
77 
76 

102 

120 
85 



188 

79 

74 

73 

174 

106 

41 

138 

71 

216 

181 

249 

82 

31 

42 



101 

55 

34 

45 

96 

104 

58 

132 

661 

143 

173 

247, 

78' 

24' 

40 



SHERI'P 



o 



207 

95 

61 

125 

123 

135 

84 

230 

25 

281 

69 

99 

122 

122 



pq 

142 

47 

22 

27 

148 

66 

34 

80 

60 

133 

187 

230 

73 

29 

46 



Honorable Joseph B. Anthony was elected to Congress in the 
district composed of Union, Northumberland, and Lycoming, by a 
majority of 2,218, and Mr. Slenker in the district composed of 
Union and Northumberland, by a majority of 1602. September 
12, John S. Ingram retires from the Thnes, and James M. Kuester 
took charge. He retired December 19, and Gabriel Yearick became 
editor. 




1835- 




Debate in the Lewisburg Temperance Society — Colonel Kelly's Monu- 
ment Erected with Imposing Ceremonies — Fourth of July Celebra- 
tions. 

HE winter of 1834 and 1835 '^^^ very severe. On Shade 

mountain, a pack of twenty wolves were found frozen 

after the melting of the snow. They appeared to have 

huddled together, perhaps exhausted with a long march, 

and perished of cold and hunger. 

On Friday evening, the 13th of February, the Lewisburg Tem- 
perence society again met, and resumed the discussion of the pro- 
priety of adopting the resolution, ''that the distillation and vendi- 
tion of ardent spirits, as a drink, is morally wrong," which, it must 
be known, had been discussed before by the society, and adopted 
by a majority of four votes ; but the opponents of the resolution, 
not being satisfied with the proceedings, on account of illegal votes 
having been taken, as they alleged, it was, therefore, agreed by both 
parties to re-consider the resolution. 

The debate was held in the Methodist church. Mr. Merrill, Mr. 
Marr, and Mr. Aiken for affirmative. General Green, Doctor 
Joyce, Mr. Barber, and James P. Ross in the negative. 

The first resolution : Resolved, That the distilling and vending 
of ardent spirits, as a drink, is morally wrong. Second, that it is 
expedient that the temperance societies of Pennsylvania adopt the 
above resolution. 

The vote on the first, yeas, 70; nays, 36. Second, yeas, 58; 
nays, 30. 

523 



524 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLBY. [1835. 

February 24, Isaac G. Jones admitted to the bar.^ April 8, the 
monument to the memory of Colonel John Kelly was erected with 
impressive ceremonies, in the Presbyterian burial-ground, in the 
borough of Lewisburg. A company of cavalry from Northumber- 
land county, one from Union, with three infantry companies, par- 
ticipated. Abbot Green was grand marshal, with Michael Brobst, 
General R. H. Hammond, Colonel Philip Ruhl, and Doctor J. S. 
Dougal as aids. The procession was formed by the adjutant, Colo- 
nel Jackson McFadden, with the military, in front, followed by 
the revolutionary soldier? and citizens ; after whom came the monu- 
ment, drawn by four gray horses,, flanked by cavalry ; then the mar- 
shal and aids, preceding the orator, clergy, and relatives ; lastly, 
the ladies, and a section of cavalry brought up the rear. On its ar- 
rival at the ground, the cavalry were stationed outside the burial- 
ground, and the infantry formed a square about the grave, inclosing 
the relatives, clergy, &c. The monument was set by the architects, 
William Hubbard, F. Stoughton, Samuel Hursh, and Charles Penny ; 
after which the grand marshal performed the rites of dedication, 
and James Merrill, Esquire, delivered an oration. 

On the 12th of April, Mr. Hood preached his farewell sermon to 
the Milton congregation, and on the 19th, to the Buffalo congrega- 
tion, thus closing with the latter a pastorate of thirty-one years. 
On the 3d of May, Reverend Isaac Grier succeeded him at Buffalo 
Cross-Roads. On the 31st of May, the German church in Lewis- 
burg was dedicated. A great number of people in attendance. 

The 4th of July was celebrated at Buffalo Cross-Roads by a meet- 
ing, at which Colonel Philip Ruhl presided and James D. Cham- 
berlin acted as secretary. Colonel Henry Noll delivered an oration, 
and James C. McCreight read the Declaration of Independence. 
The citizens of New Berlin and Hartleton united in a celebration at 
Mifflinburg. James A. Cummings was grand marshal, and there 
was a grand parade, in which Captain Forster's infantry, the Jack- 
son guards, and the Lafayette troop, under the command of Cap- 
tain Eilert, took part. 

A fourth of July sentiment, of a partisan character, appeared in 
the proceedings of the Miffiinburg celebration, contrary to an under- 

Isaac Gr. Jones, Esquire, moved to Beaver, Pennsylvania, where he practiced 
law until his death, March 30, 1853. 



1835.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 5^5 

Standing that all political toasts should be suppressed. It appeared 
among the proceedings, and was published accordingly. The fol- 
lowing is the toast : 

By J. H. Fries : Democrats, Jackson, and Anti-Bank men of 
Pennsylvania, will you, or can you, suffer to be beaten after such a 
glorious victory as you achieved in 1834? Lay all personal and 
family desires aside, and think on the true and faithful saying : 
"United we stand, divided we fall." 

M'lliiary Election. • 

Abbot Green, Esquire, of Lewisburg, in this county, was, a few 
days ago, elected to the honorable station of major general of this 
division. We believe this selection has given general satisfaction. 
Henry Noll was elected colonel ; Samuel Reber, lieutenant colonel ; 
John Gundy and George Roush, junior, majors of the forty-third 
regiment. — Times, July 6. 

At September court, politics were lively in New Berlin. A Wolf 
meeting was held on Monday, a Muhlenburg meeting on Tuesday, 
and a Ritner meeting on Wednesday. September 24, John Sargent 
and family left Lewisburg, moving eight miles west of Meadville. 
November 27, an explosion occurred in Charles F. Schafifle's drug 
store at Lewisburg, in which he was badly burned. December 24, 
Beck's tannery burned down. 




i§36- 




Political Appointments — Accident on the Fourth of Julv. 

INTER of 1835-6 was very severe; snow frequently 
over twelve inches deep, and the river frozen to the 
depth of two or three feet. Joseph Ritner having been 
elected Governor, appoints his friends to office. Robert 
P. Maclay succeeding Joseph Stillwell as prothonotary, and George 
Aurand succeeding Samuel Roush as register and recorder. Ner 
Middleswarth was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
On the 1st of April, the Lewisburg, Penn's Valley, and HoUidays- 
burg railroad was incorporated, and on the i6th of June an act was 
passed re-districting the State. Juniata, Mifflin, and Union a dis- 
trict, entitled to three members. 

May 23, James Reasoner died. He had hitched his horse to a 
post in Hartleton ; the horse frightened and pulled out the post, 
and Mr. Reasoner, in trying to catch the horse, was struck with the 
swinging post, and died from the effects. James McClune com- 
menced his classical school in Lewisburg. 

i6th June, Charles de Haas, engineer, commenced surveying the 
Lewisburg, Penn's Valley, and Hollidaysburg railroad. He ran his 
line up Cherry alley, Lewisburg. 

4th of July celebration terminated unfortunately. Towards even- 
ing, a party were firing a cannon at the foot of St. John street. 
They had fired twice, when, in the act of ramming the third charge, 
it exploded. Joseph McCool had his right hand blown off, and his 
arm had to be amputated below the elbow. John Bower lost his 
two forefingers. Peter Bower had his thumb torn off. 

August 24, Kirkham, the grammarian, delivered a lecture in 

Lewisburg. 

526 



1837.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 527 

October 5 , heavy snow-storm ; one and a half feet deep in Penn's 
valley and on Buffalo and White Deer mountains. 

November 4, James Merrill, Esquire, and William P. Maclay, 
elected Senatorial delegates, and William L. Harris, Ephraim Banks, 
and John Cummin, Representative delegates to the Convention to 
propose amendments to the Constitution of the State. 



183^. 




First Abolition Lecture in the Valley — Shows — Report of the 
Union County Agricultural Society. 

[]EBRUARY 5th, Philip Rorabaugh buried in the German 
grave-yard, at Lewisburg, with military honors, aged 
eighty-five. He was a hero of three wars, the Revolu- 
tion, the whisky insurrection, and the war of 181 2. 
March 15, Mrs. Dunlap's house, on Buffalo creek, a mile below 
Chamberlin's mill, was burned last night ; Sally Gray and her son, 
(both deranged,) John Young, about seventeen years old, and a son 
of Joseph G. Wallace, eight years old, burned. There were eight 
in the house ; four escaped. 

April 17, Doctor Thomas Vanvalzah, and others, left the Valley 
to settle in Illinois. This was the start of an emigration which has 
made Stephenson county, Illinois, a counterpart of Buffalo Valley. 
November 10, Miller McKim delivered his first lecture in Lewis- 
burg on the abolition of slavery. On the 1 4th there was a meeting 
which, upon a motion made to determine whether McKim should 
be allowed to speak, ended suddenly in a small riot. 

Shoms. 

Shows have changed in character with the increase of population. 
Welsh & Purdy's came through the county. They have collected 
upwards of one hundred beasts, birds, and reptiles, in a great cara- 



^28 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1837. 

van of wagons ; have an excellent band of musicians, and held their 
exhibition under a huge pavilion, capable of containing five thousand 
people. It is quite a grand spectacle to see them entering New Ber- 
lin. In front marches the elephant, clad in red housings, with a 
lofty saddle, on which are mounted two musicians ) next, came a 
band of musicians, mounted upon gray horses, gaily caparisoned, 
followed by a train of wagons, containing the animals. The whole 
establishment embraced one hundred horses, all grays, and eighty 
men. The hotels were open before daylight, and people gathered 
in from the country as soon as it was light. The largest room in the 
house was thrown open for dancing, and the fiddles only ceased with 
the news of the entrance of the procession, to be resumed after the 
procession, and continued until the call for dinner. 

Union County Agricultural Society. 

It is with regret that we notice so late the reports of three com- 
mittees of this society, made on the 20th of October. They were 
the reports of the committee on grain, on hogs, and on butter and 
cheese. The way in which these reports came to be omitted in the 
report published in the Union Times, of the 4th instant, was, that 
they were handed to the former treasurer, who supposed that they 
would be called for, and the present treasurer, not knowing that such 
reports existed, they were omitted to be laid before the committee 
on premiums. Consequently, the articles recommended in those 
reports as worthy of premiums had no premiums awarded them out 
of the funds appropriated for that purpose. These reports are now 
noticed, because it is due to the producers of the articles noticed in 
them. It is only to be regretted, that the funds of the society will 
not afford them the premiums they merited. The following is an 
abstract of the reports : 

The committee on grain reported, that John Wilt, of Hartley town- 
ship, produced evidence of the best yield of wheat per acre, accord- 
ing to the quality of the soil, having raised thirty-Jive bushels off an 
acre, selected out of a field of about eight acres, the wheat having 
been cultivated alike. They report the soil as being of second-rate 
land — a gravel shale — adjacent to limestone soil. 

That Colonel Samuel Barber, of West Buffalo township, exhibited 



1837.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 3^9 

evidence of the next best specimen of wheat, having raised forty- 
bushels off an acre, selected out of a field containing eleven acres, 
all cultivated alike. That the soil is of first rate limestone. Con- 
sidering the quality of the soil, the committee awarded the first 
premium to Mr. Wilt, and to Colonel Barber the second. The 
committee also considered Colonel Barber worthy of a premium for 
the best specimen of summer wheat. Francis Wilson's corn, being 
seventy bushels of shelled corn to an acre, was also deemed worthy 
of a premium. The committee also notice in terms of commenda- 
tion Mr. Wilt's yield of corn; as also Philip Seebold's grapes; Sam- 
uel Templeton's potatoes, having yielded eighty bushels per quarter 
of an acre, (one single potato weighing four and three quarter 
pounds;) Mrs. Merrill's sugar-beet, and Mrs. Shroyer's red-beet, 
and Mrs. Schoch's cabbage. To some of these small premiums are 
recommended, especially Mr. Seebold's grapes. 

The committee on hogs awarded to John Clemmens a premium 
for the best breed of hogs, considering their size and age. 

The committee on butter and cheese recommended a specimen of 
butter exhibited by Mrs. Margaret Pontius, as of a superior quality, 
both in color and taste. 

Joseph Stilwell, Recording Secretary. 

Philadelphia Prices Current, October 21, 1837 — Grain: Wheat, 
Pennsylvania, bushel, $i 55 ; Rye, 80; Corn, yellow, 93 ; Barley, 
inferior, 83 ; Oats, 35 to 38. Spirits : Whisky, rye, 33 ; hogsheads, 
31. Wool: American, full blood, lb. 50 to 63. 

At the October election, Yearick, for Assembly, received 1,381 
votes in Union county; Boyer, opposition, 1,666. 




34 



183 




Locust Year — Buckshot War. 

HIS is the " locust year." I saw and heard them for the 
first time this year on the lytli of June, and the last of 
them were heard in the last week of July. They were 
very numerous, and most of the oak trees in this neigh- 
borhood bear witness of their labors ; the present year's shoots of 
the branches being killed by the punctures this creature makes in 
laying its eggs. The common opinion is that they re-appear every 
fourteen years, (some say seventeen,) but I incline to think they are 
by no means regular in their visits. The first time I saw them was 
in 1804, when they were very numerous about Selinsgrove. In the 
year 181 7, I saw them at Princeton, N. J. ; in 182 1, at Sunbury ; 
at Selinsgrove, in 1832 ; and, lastly, here, (Milton.) A gentleman 
who had a contract on the canal in 182 7-28-29, informed me that the 
laborers frequently dug up this insect in the aurelia state, in the flats. 
Their size diminished according to the depth beneath the surface. 
Some were found at the depth of four feet, and were small, soft, 
and entirely white. They do not make their appearance in all parts 
of the country at the same period. — G. A. S. 

To the Electors of the District composed of the counties of Union, 
Juniata, andMifflln:^ 

Fellow-Citizens : I have been in a deplorable situation for eight 
or ten days past. I was elected your representative. As such, I am 

1 Tills communication was published as an extra of the Union Times, Wednesday, 
December, 19, and gives Mr. Montelius' reasons lor withdrawing from his party 
organization at that interesting epoch in Pennsylvania political history, known as 
the " Buckshot War," causing a collapse of Thaddeus Stevens' " Eump Legisla- 
ture," as it was called. Mr. Montelius was commissioned associate judge of Union 
county, February 27, 1845, by Grovernor Shunk, and died at Mifflinburg, March 31, 
1864, aged eighty years two months and tweuiv-three days. 

530 



1838.] ANNALS OF BLFFALO VALLEY. 531 



bound faithfully to discharge my duty to you, to myself, to God, 
and my country. You are already informed that there were two 
Speakers elected on the 4th instant, in the House of Representatives. 
With the information I had, and the advice of the friends in whom 
I confided, I was induced to act here with the party who profess the 
same principles with those of my constituents who nominated and 
elected me. But full information, cool and deliberate reflection, 
and warnings of my conscience, have convinced me that my party 
friends here have mistaken their course, and that, as a faithful rep- 
resentative, and an honest man, I was bound to retrace my steps, 
do what I conscientiously beheved to be right, and trust to the im- 
partiality of your judgment, upon a full and fair examination of all 
the facts. Finding my political friends had done wrong, according 
to my judgment, I withdrew from them immediately, and have 
waited for several days to give them time to retrace their steps, and 
to allow all concerned to arrange, peaceably and justly, the unhappy 
difference that had arisen ; but finding this has not been accom- 
plished, I have nothing left for me but to do that which I believe to 
be right, and leave to those who would destroy our beloved State 
the consequence of their rashness. Do not think I have acted rashly. 
The step I have taken was taken deliberately and coolly, and in 
obedience to my understanding of the constitution and laws of our 
dear country. I am for peace. " Es wird meiner seek bange zii 
wohnen bey denen die den frieden hassen.'" And I hope the course 
I have taken may help to save our beloved Pennsylvania from blood- 
shed and the horrors of civil war. The great question is whether 
the majority shall rule, and upon this question I know you all think 
with me. Now, all I have done has been done with an honest desire 
to carry out this great principle in our free government, that the 
minority must yield to the majority. And I am certain not one of 
you, however strong a party man he may be, will blame me for 
maintaining this principle. My constituents, particularly in Union 
county, all know me, and I beg of them all, before they condemn 
me, fully and coolly to examine the facts. I have not, in this in- 
stance, acted as a party man, but I have acted honestly, and accord- 
ing to my conscience. 

In joining with my party friends in organizing the House of Rep- 
resentatives, with the eight Philadelphia county members of the 



532 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1838. 

Whig party, I thought these had been elected by the majority of the 
votes of the county, and had been returned by a majority of the 
judges, but I soon found that this was not true, and that the eight 
members of the opposition party in the county of Philadelphia, had 
been elected by a majority of about five hundred votes in the whole 
county, and had been returned elected by a majority of the judges. 

I am sorry to say that the Secretary of the State kept back these 
returns, which I think was wrong. Under these circumstances, I 
could not continue to act with men who had no right to their seats, 
no more than my opponent had to mine. You would not, as honest 
men, ask me to sanction so bad a principle, and it is that I know 
your honesty that I have joined those who have been fairly elected 
by the majority. My party opinions and principles have not 
changed, and my future course will show that I am true to those 
principles. On your calm judgment I rely. What I have done has 
been done for what I believe to be your interest, and is approved 
by my conscience. 

I remain your friend, 

John Montelius. 

Hall of the House of Representatives, December 17, 1838. 

On the 17th of December, Messrs. Butler and Sturdevant, of 
Luzerne, and Mr. Montelius, of Union, appeared in the House, 
over which Mr. Hopkins was presiding, and, after some remarks by 
Mr. Butler, explanatory of their course, were duly sworn as mem- 
bers, thus ending the contest. 




1839- 



Aurand's Hotel Buened- 



-PoLiTics — Obituary Notice of Reverend J. 
H. Fries. 




ANUARY 15, David R. Porter proclaimed Governor. 
February 19, Samuel Aurand's hotel, at New Berlin, 
burned. It was court week, and the house full of law- 
yers, jurors, suitors, and witnesses. Some made narrow 
escapes, with the loss of their clothing, as the fire broke out in the 
night, when all were abed. April 5, John Egbert's stable, at Lewis- 
burg, burned, with his horse and cow. This was followed by the 
burning of Alexander Graham's and a number of others, caused by 
incendiaries. 

The Times, August 21, publishes the following as the "Demo- 
cratic-Republican Anti-Bank ticket : Assembly, Doctor Isaac Hot- 
tenstine ; Prothonotary, Samuel Roush; Register and Recorder, 
Robert Forster; Commissioner, George A. Snyder; Auditor, Jacob 
Wittenmyer; Trustees of the Mifflinburg Academy, Colonel Samuel 
Barber, John Hilbish, and Charles Pellman ; and the following as 
the "Abohtion United States Bank ticket:" Assembly, John A. 
Vanvalzah; Prothonotary, Jacob H. Horning; Register and Re- 
corder, John Glover ; Commissioner, Henry Hilbish ; Auditor, 
Samuel Pawling; Trustees, Samuel B. Barber, James Simington, and 
David Watson. Anti-Masonic candidate for Register and Recorder, 
David Schwenck. At the October election, Vanvalzah's vote was 
1,577. Average majority of his colleagues on the ticket in Union 
county, 277. 

In October, the banks in Philadelphia and Baltimore suspended 

533 



S34 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1839. 



specie payment, and the Northumberland bank was compelled to 
follow. The directors of the latter bank, John Walls, Alexander 
Jordan, John Taggert, &c., however, published a card, in which 
they pledged their individual responsibility that all its issues should 
ultimately be made good. 

October 3, grew on the farm of Samuel Zellers, in East Buffalo 
township, two pumpkins on one vine, one measuring two feet three 
inches in diameter, and two feet five inches in length, and weighs 
one hundred and twenty pounds; the other measures six feet eleven 
inches in circumference, and weighs one hundred and seventeen 
pounds. 

November 19, Absalom Swineford, Esquire, admitted to the bar. 
On the 8th of December, the new Lutheran and Reformed church, 
at the place of the old Dreisbach church, in Buffalo township, was 
dedicated. The building committee were John Sheckler, Samuel 
Reber, Peter Engel, and Jacob Ritter. 

Obiiuary. 

Just Henry Fries died on Wednesday evening, the 9th of Octo- 
ber, aged sixty-two years five months and sixteen days. For some 
years before his death, he was deprived of his sight, but his astonish- 
ing memory enabled him to give out the hymns in full, and preach 
with a precision for which he was always noted. He refused to take 
medicine in his last illness, saying he wished to die in the full pos- 
session of his senses. His disease was of a very singular character. 
In July he cut a corn on his toe, mortification took place, spreading 
gradually, with intense pain, to his knee. Here it remained seated 
in his knee, the pain having nearly ceased, when suddenly it com- 
menced spreading, and affected his whole body. He is buried in 
the Mifflinburg grave-yard. The grave-yard lies along a slope, 
somewhat elevated above the town, which lies immediately in front ; 
beyond it, west and east, extends one of the finest valleys in Penn- 
sylvania. To the west, in the distance, are the jutting knobs ; and 
to the north, the broad, blue side of the mountains, with quiet 
nooks between ; and as far as the eye can reach, in the north-east, 
are the breaks in the mountains, with the broad levels between, 
which indicate the course of the noble Susquehanna. Thus does 



1839.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



535 



his quiet grave still overlook the wide scene of his labors, while he 
has gone to await the final issues of his care, as they shall gather 
around him in the resurrection of the just. 

Mr. Fries was remarkably open, honest, and true. His word 
could be depended upon. He hated all sham and hypocrisy to 
such a degree that he was constantly in danger of falling into a 
blunt frankness, without giving due attention to that suavity of 
manner, which is to an open heart what the fragrance is to an open 
flower. He was fearless in preaching.^ 

He was unnecessarily open and free with his political views. He 
not only argued readily on this subject in private circles, but often 
introduced political matters, with more or less plainness, into the 
pulpit, referring even to candidates and parties. He also wrote 
numerous articles for the papers during the heat of contests, anony- 
mously, it is true, yet still so that their parentage was recognized by 
many. This was one of his weaknesses, which his friends always 
regretted, but which he was never able to see in its true light. He 
was very kind hearted, which he manifested in great affection towards 
his family and in kindnesses to his friends. His labors in the min- 
istry were very extensive, and the complete statistics of his services 
show an astonishing result, kc—HarbaugK s Fathers. 

He was twice married, first to Catherine Groff, by whom he had 
two children ; second, to Susanna Groff, by whom he had eleven. 
Judge Henry W. Fries, late of Lewisburg, now of Iowa, is his son. 

II have often heard quoted a remark he made in a sermon in Brush Valley: 
"Money rules the world, but ignorance rules Brush valley."— iiwra. 




i840- 




Weather Record — State Road from Heberling's to Elk Creek, Cen- 
tre County, Located — Census of 1840. 

ANUARY — , the deep snows of this winter, followed by 
intensely cold weather, drove the wolves down from 
Shade and Jack's mountain. A pack of thirteen attacked 
and destroyed an ox near Beavertown. Friday, January 
i6, was called the "cold Friday," thermometer being seventeen 
degrees below zero. On the loth of February the ice broke in the 
river, and passed off, and on the 4th of December the first snow of 
the succeeding winter fell. 

The following is the result of the elections held on the 5 th March, 
in the borough and township, for and against the common school : 

Borough of New Berlin. 

For the school, 64 

Against the school, 31 

Majority in favor of the school, 33 

Union Township. 

Against the school, 154 

For the school, 12 

Majority against the school, 142 

May 26, the commissioners, Anthony Wolfe, of Centre county, 
Henry Noll, of Union, and Jacob Stitzel of Northumberland, com- 

53(> 



1840.] 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



537 



menced locating the State road from Heberling's mill, in West 
Buffalo township, to Elk creek, in Miles township, Centre county, 
through the Brush Valley narrows. James F. Linn was the surveyor, 
David Wolfe and Henry Peters, chain carriers, and Colonel Samuel 
Reber, axeman. July 4, a monument to the memory of Captain 
Samuel M. Patterson was erected in the Presbyterian grave-yard at 
Lewisburg, with appropriate ceremonies, by the "Union Hornets." 
On the 19th of October, Reverend Thomas P. Hunt commenced 
his series of temperance lectures, at Lewisburg, which gave a very 
remarkable impetus to the cause through Buffalo valley. On the 
29th, Reverend Hugh Pollock, from Belfast, Ireland, arrived and 
took charge of the Lewisburg academy, made vacant by the removal 
of James McClune to Mifiiinburg. 

United States Pensioners Residing in Union County in 1840. 

Centre, Conrad Swartzlander, aged 85. Union, George Miller, 
81 J Jacob Bickel, 85 ; John Derr, 86. Mifflinburg, Peter Lenhart, 
85 ; John Linn, 84. West Buffalo, Robert Barber, 89. East Buf- 
falo, Jacob Mook, 86 ; Adam Schout, 86. White Deer, Joseph Bit- 
ting, 8^. Hartley, Peter Klingaman, 85. 



Census of 1840. 



Mifflinburg, 
Kelly, . 
Buffalo, . 
White Deer 
Hartley, 
Centre, . 
New Berlin, 
Lewisburg, . 
West Buffalo, 
East Buffalo, 



704 

788 
1,348 
1,252 
1,866 
1,891 

679 
1,220 
1,460 

812 



Penn's, 2,280 

Middle Creek, . . . 562 

Chapman, 1,297 

Perry, 1,254 

Union, 1,630 

Washington, . . . . 1,135 

Beaver, 2,609 



Total, 22,787 



Samuel Roush, Esquire, was the deputy marshal, who took the 
census of the south side of the county. Captain John Forster, dep- 
uty marshal for the north side. 



1841 to i855- 



Death of James Merrill, Esquire — Development of Iron Ore in the 
Valley — Newspapers — Politics — Danville Encampment — Notice of 
William Hayes — Millerism — Camp Potter — Liberty Party Formed 
— Furnaces Built — Death of William L. Harris — Daguerreotypes 
Introduced — Railroad Meeting — Accident at Turtle Creek — List of 
Valley Soldiers in the Mexican War — Vote on License— Death of 
John Lashells, Esquire, and G-eneral R. H. Hammond — Lewisburg 
University Chartered — High's Mill Burned — The Last Battalion — 
Taxables and Valuation — Census of 1850 — Susquehanna Railroad 
Commenced — First Commencement at* Lewisburg — Railroad Excite- 
ment — Union County Agricultural Society Formed — Lewisburg, 
Centre, and Spruce Creek Railroad Company Chartered — Gtreat Fire 
AT Lewisburg — Death of Honorable G-eorge Kremer — Union Fur- 
nace AT Winfield Erected — Erection of Snyder County — Vote in 
Favor of Division — Vote on the Location of the County Seat. 

[1841.] In the spring, J. & M. Halfpenny started the Laurel 
woolen factory, at the mouth of Laurel run, in Hartley township. 
They built the Winfield woolen factory, near Laurelton, and removed 
thither in 1851. The Presbyterian church, at New Berlin, was or- 
ganized. Elders, John Lashells, James Merrill, and Joseph Stillwell. 
Mr. Hugh Pollock published his pamphlet, entitled "The Present 
State of America compared with England and Ireland." April 12, 
the People's Advocate, at Lewisburg, suspended publication. Septem- 
ber 4, S. K. Sweetman and D. O. E. Maize commenced the publica- 
tion of the Independent Press at Lewisburg. In October, the vote for 
Governor, in Union county, was : For David R. Porter, 1,568 ; for 
John Banks, 2,132. October 29, James Merrill, Esquire, died at New 
Berlin, after a lingering illness, from cancer of the face. He was 
born at Peacham, Vermont, May 8, 1790. Eldest son of Jesse and 
Priscilla (Kimbell) Merrill. Graduated at Dartmouth College in 



1842.] A-NNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 539 



i8i2, in the same class with Honorable John Blanchard, and came 
with him to Pennsylvania. He studied law with David Cassat, 
Esquire, at York, and settled in New Berlin in 1816. As a jurist, 
he soon became prominent in every department of legal science. He 
was always upright and candid in all his professional intercourse, and 
was a faithful and efficient advocate. He was a member of the Con- 
stitutional Convention of 1 837-1 838. In the fall, the iron ore below 
the mouth of Turtle creek was found to be of a superior quality, and 
its development was commenced by Napoleon Hughes, of Franklin 
county, a short distance above the site of the present furnace of 
Beaver, Marsh & Co., a few hundred yards from the river bank. On 
the 25 th of December, Nathan Mitchell and James S. Marsh com- 
menced the manufacture of the " Hathaway Cooking Stove," at the 
Lewisburg foundry. Current prices of grain at Lewisburg, Septem- 
ber 18: Wheat, $1.20; rye, 50 cents; corn, 56 cents; oats, 33 
cents; butter, 10 cents. 

[1842.] Current prices at Lewisburg, June 11, wheat, $\.oo. 
August 20, wheat, 80 cents. The military spirit of the Valley may 
be inferred from the number of volunteer companies: Lafayette Troop, 
Union Troop, Patriotic Blues, Union Rifle Rangers, Mifflinburg 
Greens, and the Lewisburg Infantry. The Union Times, at New 
Berlin, was published by Jacob Reichly & Co. , John M. Baum, editor. 
The Independent Press, at Lewisburg, by S. K. Sweetman and J. F. 
Busch. February 10, twelve, p. m., distillery of R. M. Musser, in 
Kelly township, burned down. March 2, the Northern temperance 
convention met in the Methodist church at Lewisburg. March 1 4, 
Elder William Lane commenced his labors at Lewisburg. March 
21, Jonas Kelchner, editor of the People's Advocate, at Lewisburg, 
died, aged thirty-five. June i , the encampment at Danville was held. 
General Winfield Scott was the distinguished guest. Lewisburg In- 
fantry, Captain McFadden, and the Union Troop, Captain Vanval- 
zah, were in attendance. June 6, the election for field officers of 
the forty-third regiment resulted as follows : Colonel, Levi B. Christ ; 
Lieutenant Colonel, Jacob Ritter ; Major, Robert B. Green. Inde- 
pendent Battalion — Lieutenant Colonel, S. H. Laird ; Major, S. F. 
Lyndall. July 4, General Abbot Green was elected major general 
of the eighth division. 

Union County Democratic Standing Committee — James Dale, Hon- 



540 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1843. 

orable George Schnable, Jacob Reichly, Honorable John Baskins, 
Thomas Bovver, Colonel Samuel Reber, Captain John Forster, Major 
George Roush, Major John Gundy, Valentine Haas, Esquire. Dem- 
ocratic convention at New Berlin, August 29, vv^as composed of the 
following delegates: New Berlin, Samuel Wilson and Sem Schoch; 
Union, Adam Miller and Jacob Wetzel ; West Buffalo, Elias Kleck- 
ner and William Forster ; Mififlinburg, J. G. Chestney and Joseph 
Eilert ; Buffalo, Jacob Ritter and Martin Dreisbach ; Kelly, David 
Kelly and David Howard ; East Buffalo, James Reber and David 
Herbst ; Lewisburg, John Walls and C. D. Kline ; White Deer, Sam- 
uel Henderson and J. W. Drum; Hartley, Henry Charles and 
Charles D. Smith. Henry C. Eyer was nominated for Senator, and 
Samuel Reber for Assembly. Samuel Wilson, president,; Thomas 
Bower, secretary. The Whig convention also met in August, and 
nominated the following ticket : Congress, William L. Harris ; Sen- 
ate, Ner Middleswarth ; Assembly, John A. Vanvalzah ; Register 
and Recorder, Michael H. Weaver ; Commissioner, Solomon Engel ; 
Auditor, S. H. Laird ; Trustees, Robert Chambers, William A. Pi- 
per, Charles Montelius. This ticket is called, in the choice language 
of the Union Times, The Anti-Masonic, Anti-Suffrage, Peg Beatty, 
Blue Light, Federal Whig ticket of Union county. Vote in October : 
For John A. Vanvalzah, for Assembly, 1,562; for Samuel Reber, 

1,405- 

October 29, the church at Laurel run, in Hartley township, dedi- 
cated. December term, George W. Graham, Esquire, admitted to 
the bar. December 13, Reverend S. H. Reed installed pastor of 
the German Reformed church at Lewisburg. December 23, New 
Berlin Artillerists organized by Colonel Jackson McFadden, brigade 
inspector. Officers : Captain, J. J. Maclay ; first lieutenant, Mi- 
chael Kleckner; second lieutenant, Charles D. Roush, and the 
event celebrated by a dinner at Michael Kleckner's hotel. 

.[1843.] In January, Honorable John Baskins resigned the office 
of associate judge of Union county, preparatory to moving to Mer- 
cer county, and on the 24th, B. F. Baskins was admitted to the bar. 
February 17, William Hayes, merchant of Lewisburg, died, aged 
sixty-one. His ancestors, John Hayes and Jane, his wife, with four 
children, emigrated from Londonderry about the year 1730 — settled 
in Chester county, where his house burned. He then moved to 



1843.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 541 

Northampton county, where he kept public house and store. During 
the Indian troubles, he used to beat a drum on the hill-top, near 
his house, to warn the settlers of approaching danger. He died in 
1788, aged eighty-three. His widow died at Derry, Northumber- 
land county, aged ninety-four, in 1806. Of the four children born 
in Ireland : i, William, moved to the State of Virginia at an early 
period; 2, Isabella, married to Patton, whose descendants live near 
Bellefonte; 3, John, died near Meadville, Pennsylvania; 4, Mary, 
married a Gray, afterwards a Steele. Of those born in Pennsylva- 
nia : 5, Elizabeth, married Thomas Wilson, (grandfather of Francis 
Wilson, of Buffalo;) 6, James ;^ 7, Robert, born in Northampton 
county, in 1742; 8, Francis, who moved to Tennessee; 9, Jane, 
married a Brown, settled first in Virginia and afterwards moved 
back to Pennsylvania. Robert married Mary Allison, and moved to 
Northumberland county in 1790. He lived nine years on a farm 
near Warrior Run church, sevea years at Derry, and in 1806 moved 
to the farm in Delaware township, where his son Joseph lately lived. 
He was a school-master, and at that time there were seven or eight 
acres of the place cleared and two indifferent huts on the premises, 
which he used as a dwelling and school-house. He died in 181 9, 
and his children were: i, John, whose descendants live at Water- 
ford, Erie county, Pennsylvania; 2, Jane, married to Moses Laird, 
(father of Robert H. Laird, Esquire, of Lewisburg;) 3, William 
Hayes, born in 1776; 4, James Hayes; 5, Joseph Hayes, who was 
living a few years since, at the age of ninety ; 6, Mary Walker, who 
died at eighty-four years of age; 7, Sarah Shipman, descendants re- 
siding in Michigan; 8, Elizabeth, married her cousin Brown, living 
near Franklin, Pennsylvania. William Hayes' wife was Mary, 
daughter of William Wilson, of White Deer, now Kelly township. 
Children : Robert and Thomas of Philadelphia, Mrs. Doctor Seller 
of Harrisburg, Mrs. John Chamberlin, Mrs. Doctor Thomas Mur- 
ray, James Hayes, late of the Auditor General's office, at Harris- 
burg, Doctor William Hayes of Muncy. Mr. Hayes was the second 
postmaster of Lewisburg, and held the office a long time, in con- 

' Lieutenant James Hayes served under Colonel Bouquet in the French and In- 
dian war, and received for his services a tract of land at the mouth of Beech creek, 
in Clinton county, on which he settled, raised a large family, and died. He is buried 
in the Hayes grave-yard, so called from him, at Beech creek. He is the only one of 
his brother officers who lulfilled to the letter his contract with the Proprietaries by 
settling upon his allotment. 



542 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1843. 

nection with his store, which was tlie principal one in the Valley for 
many years. The late George A. Snyder relates the following inci- 
dent of Mr. Hayes' early life in Lewisburg : 

' ' Soon after I commenced business in Lewisburg, said my old 
friend William Hayes, I was so unfortunate as to lose an entire 
cargo of wheat at Conewago falls. I was indebted to several per- 
sons for money borrowed, and much of the wheat had been pur- 
chased from the farmers on credit, who, being in easy circum- 
stances, were content to leave the money in my hands, receiving 
interest after six months. So heavy a loss to so new a dealer created 
alarm. It was feared I should not be able to answer my liabilities, 
and every creditor discovered that he had just then need of his 
money. I paid out to every one who came, though with each pay- 
ment my heart grew heavy, for it felt that I must be crippled, if not 
ruined, before all were paid. One of my creditors, however, on 
the day after I had paid him ^400, came to my store and returned 
me the money, saying, ' by taking the money, I have been only 
making sure to you the ruin which I apprehended ; take it back, I 
can trust it to your honesty, and it will help you get afloat again.' 
From that time I took courage and worked with a good heart, and 
was enabled to become what you see." 

In April, 1843, Isaac G. Gordon,^ a student-at-law with James F. 
Linn, Esq., was admitted to the bar. 

Millensm. 

The grand delusion of this year was Millerism. A clergyman 
named Miller undertook the task of ascertaining when that hour 
should come "whereof no man knoweth ; no, not the angels of 
God, neither the Son." Relying on the chronology of Rollin, and 
seemingly not aware of the impossibility of verifying the dates of 
the Old Testament writers, he confidently predicted that the visible 
and personal reign of Christ would commence in the year 1843. His 
preaching, vehement and fanatical in its tone, and the seeming 
accuracy of his calculations, quickly gained him hearers and prose- 

'In 1860-61 Honorable Isaac Gr. Gordon was elected member of the House from 
Jefferson, &c., April 12, 1866, commissioned president jud^e of the twenty-eighth 
judicial district, and in October, 1873, elected one of the justices of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania. 



1844.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 543 

lytes. Miller was content to take the whole year for the fulfillment 
of his prophecy, but some of his disciples had undertaken to fix the 
precise day and hour. One preacher fixed on twelve, p. m., 14th 
February. He and his little flock provided themselves with ascen- 
sion robes, and repaired to the church-yard to await the resurrection 
of their departed friends, and join them in their ascent. The clock 
struck twelve, one, and two, but the graves gave not up their dead, 
and the company gradually dispersed to their homes. 

September 23, Wilham B. Shriner commenced publishing the 
Lewis burg Chronicle. October 28, some little boys collected some 
shavings at the new Presbyterian church, in New Berlin, and kin- 
dled a fire, which burned M. Kleckner's barn, with his poultry, hay, 
and oats, and almost set the whole town on fire. John Robinson, 
principal of the Levvisburg Academy. In Union county, in Octo- 
ber, the vote on the State ticket for Canal Commissioner was. Whig, 
2,034; Democratic, 1,393. General Henry Frick, Whig, was 
elected Congressman in the district by a majority of 249 over Hon- 
orable John Snyder. Lewisburg market prices in November : wheat, 
75 cents; buckwheat, 40 cents; rye, 44 cents; corn, 37 j^ cents; 
oats, 25 cents; butter, 10 cents. December 20, the revival services 
under the charge of Reverend William D. Grant, were crowned 
with success, in the baptism of a number of persons this day, which 
culminated in the formation of the first Baptist meeting at Lewis- 
burg. December 31, Reverend Henry Harbaugh preaching in 
Lewisburg. 

[1844.] January 3, the Baptist church at Lewisburg was recog- 
nized as such, with Reverend C. A. Hewitt as temporary pastor. 
January 8, the new Lutheran church at Selinsgrove was dedicated. 
February 29, the Presbyterian church at New Berlin was dedicated. 
March i. General Henry Frick, member of Congress from this dis- 
trict, died at Washington, D. C, aged forty-eight. He was interred 
at Milton on Monday, 4th. He established the Miltonian Septem- 
ber 21, 1 81 6. March 18, Charles G. Donnel, president judge of 
the eighth district, died at Sunbury, of paralysis, and on the ist 
of April, Joseph B. Anthony, of Williamsport, held his first court 
at Sunbury. On the 5th, a special election for Congressman, vice 
General Frick, deceased, was held. In Union county, James Pol- 
lock received 2,086 ; Honorable John Snyder, 1,289. Pollock had 



544- ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1845. 

5 majority in Northumberland county, and 154 in Lycoming. Sny- 
der had 89 in Clinton. May 16, John Hayes, deputy surveyor of 
Union county, died. Of his children were R. G. H. Hayes, Nancy, 
William, David, Esquire, and James Hayes. July 4 was celebrated 
in Brown's woods, at Lewisburg, four schools from the town and 
two from the country joining. There were seven hundred Sabbath- 
school scholars in procession, who were addressed by Reverends 
Crever, Harbaugh, Zeller, and Sutton. August 27, Camp Potter, 
on the farm of James F. Linn, in East Buffalo township, organized, 
by the arrival of two troops and three foot companies, General 
James Potter in command. September 2, Methodist camp-meeting 
on the farm of Jacob Ziebach. September 14, large Democratic 
meeting on the island, at Milton. Honorable James Buchanan 
spoke, and assured his auditors that James K. Polk was as good a 
tariff man as Henry Clay. The summer was noted for great efforts 
in the temperance cause — the burden of the speeches an appeal to 
the ballot-box. Reverend W. H. H. Barnes, who afterwards be- 
came a backslider, and was murdered by guerrillas during the Mexi- 
can war, canvassed the county and made a fine impression from his 
eloquence in advocating that appeal. General Reily, of Rochester, 
New York, also lectured frequently during this period. October 8, 
at the gubernatorial election, Francis R. Shunk and General Joseph 
Markle were the opposing candidates. Markle (Whig) received 
2,721 votes in Union county; Shunk (Democrat) received 1,777. 
For the sale of the main line of canals, 1,289 votes were cast, against 
2,113. F. J. Lemoyne was voted for by the Liberty party for Gov- 
ernor. November i, presidential election. Henry Clay had 1,024 
majority. James G. Birney (Liberty party) had 8 votes in Lewis- 
burg. The names of those who voted for the latter were John K. 

Housel, H. R. Noll, Augstadt, Poeth, Samuel Evans, 

Dennis Phillips, and James F. Linn. December 18, a Native Ameri- 
can meeting was held in the court-house, at New Berlin, which was 
addressed by Absalom Swineford, Esquire. 

[1845.] Market prices at Lewisburg, March: Wheat, 75 to 80 
cents; rye, 50 cents; corn, 37 cents. In June, wheat, 80 cents. 
In October, 85 to 95 cents. J. M. Kuester editing the Pittsburgh 
Daily in January. February 4, occurred the first deep snow of the 
winter. It was over twelve inches in depth. April 30, James Kelly, 



1845.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 545 



senior, opened a temperance house, on Market street, in Lewisburg. 
July 7, the first metal made at the Berlin iron-works, operated by 
Wilson, Green & Mitchell, was brought to Lewisburg. The Baptist 
church at Lewisburg, that stood on the corner of Pine alley and Third 
street, now the site of Music Hall, was built during the summer by 
L. B. Christ, Esquire, contractor. August 9, John Wolfe's barn, in 
East Buffalo township, was struck by lightning, and burned. Au- 
gust 13, Honorable Hugh Wilson, late associate judge of Union 
county, died, at three, p. m. , aged eighty-four. His wife, Sarah Craig, 
was a daughter of Colonel Thomas Craig, of the third regiment, 
Pennsylvania Line, afterward General Thomas Craig, of Northamp- 
ton county. August 29, West Branch Division, No. 53, Sons of 
Temperance, organized at Lewisburg. September 3, barn of George 
F. Miller, Esquire, in East Buffalo, burned by an incendiary. Sep- 
tember 28, Reverend Joel E. Bradley preached the first sermon in 
the lecture room of the Baptist church at Lewisburg. September 13, ^, 
first frost. October 9, Hugh Wjlsori^of Buffalo township, died. He ^ 
moved to this Valley from Northampton county, and got here a few 
days before Christmas, 1790. Lived the winter of 1790-91 in an 
old cabin, on his father-in-law's, William Irvine, (Irish,) place, in Buf- 
falo ; then kept tavern for two years, one mile above Miffiinburg, 
(late John Kleckner's.) In the latter part of March, 1793, moved 
to a place owned by Colonel Hartley, one fourth of a mile east of 
Hartleton, on the old road, (late Yerger's,) where he lived five 
years, and in the spring of 1798 moved to Lewisburg, where he kept 
store in a log building, formerly Thomas Caldwell's, (which stood 
where Doctor F. C. Harrison's house now is,) until 1804, when he 
was succeeded by William Hayes, and then moved on to his farm, 
one mile west of Lewisburg, where he died, lacking twelve days of 
eighty-five years of age. His children were. Doctor William I. Wil- 
son, of Potter's Mills, still living ; Mrs. William C. Steadman, Fran- 
cis Wilson, and Mrs. James F. Linn. At the October election, S. 
D. Karns, Whig candidate for Canal Commissioner, received 2,015 
votes in Union county ; James Burns, Democrat, 1,416. October 
30, Frederick Bingamandied in Beaver township, aged ninety years. 
He was in the militia, under General James Potter, at Brandywine. 
In November, Green, Howard & Green commenced erecting the 
Forest iron-works, in White Deer township. November 11, Honor- 
35 



546 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1846. 



able William L. Harris died at four, p. m., from the effect of an op- 
eration, performed between twelve and one, p. m., for the removal 
of a tumor. He was highly respected, and as it was not known that 
he was the subject of a disease, his death caused a great shock to the 
people of the Valley. He was a member of the House in 1 833, and of 
the Constitutional Convention of 1 83 7-1 838. In December, an artist 
named Felch took the first daguerreotypes in the Valley. He charged 
^650 for a group of five in a small four-inch glass case. December 
16, Charles Merrill, Esquire, admitted to the bar. 

[1846.] January 8, a large railroad meeting was held at Mififlin- 
burg, Henry Yearick, president, to urge the incorporation of a 
company to make a railroad through the Valley. February 5, the 
act to establish the University at Lewisburg was passed, (Pamphlet 
Laws, 32,) and on the 5th of October, Professor Stephen W. Tay- 
lor opened its high school in the lecture room of the Baptist church. 
Friday evening, March 13, Thomas Follmer and his son Henry and 
William Gundy, son of Major John Gundy, who were managing the 
Farmers' company store at Turtle creek, were drowned at the mouth 
of that creek. They were going in a boat, about ten, p. m., to visit 
the store-house on the opposite side of the creek, and were on their 
return, when the mill dam gave way, and the boat struck a timber 
raft. William Gundy's body was found in the boat under the raft, 
the next day ; the others were carried down the river, and their 
bodies were found three weeks afterward, some miles below. The 
flood in the river at this time exceeded that of 1810, being six and 
one half inches above the mark of that date on Kremer's store-house. 
The canal was broken, mails stopped, the Milton bridge badly in- 
jured, the bridge on the North Branch, at Northumberland, carried 
away, as well as the one at Duncan's island, and the Harrisburg 
bridge in part. March 21, price of wheat at Lewisburg, eighty-five 
to ninety cents. April i, the last sermon preached in the old stone 
church, at Buffalo Cross-Roads, by Reverend Isaac Grier, from Mat- 
thew, xxviii : v. 5. The congregation worshipped twenty nine years 
and three months in that building. In August, Reverend Samuel 
Shaetfer had charge of the Lewisburg academy. At the October 
election, in Union county, James M. Power received 1,976 votes, 
and William B. Foster, 905, for canal commissioner. November 15, 
Baptist meeting-house at Lewisburg dedicated. November 27, John 



1847.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 547 

Derr, a revolutionary soldier, died in Centre township, aged ninety- 
three years. Monday, December 28, the Columbia Guards, after- 
wards company C, second regiment. Captain John S. Wilson, 
passed through Lewisburg on their way to the seat of war in Mexico. 
They were provided with dinner by the citizens. Charles H. Shriner 
delivered an address, and Colonel Jackson McFadden presented 
them with a flag. 

List of Soldiers in the Mexican War from Union county. 

App, Jacob, Selinsgrove, company C, second regiment, died at 
San Francisco, California, in October, 1849, aged twenty-four; 
Best, Francis R., Mifflinburg, company C, second regiment, died 
at Perote, June 30, 1847 ; Bower, Doctor Charles, surgeon ; Bruner, 
William, Hartleton ; Cronmiller, Henry, Mifflinburg, Independent 
rocket and howitzer battery; Forster, R. H., Mifflinburg, company 
C, second regiment ; Leopard, Joseph, Kelly, company I, first reg- 
iment ; Miller, George ; McFadden, Hugh, Lewisburg, company 
C, second regiment, died at Perote, September 14, 1847; M!c- 
Laughlin, William, Lewisburg, fifth United States infantry, died in 
service; Montgomery, John C, company M, second regiment; 
Nyhart, Peter, died January 14, 1849; Oliphant George; Quid- 
dington, Thomas; Yarnell, Peter; Zentmyer, Enos, first regiment. 
The survivors of company C returned to Danville in x\ugust, 1848, 
and shortly after Lieutenant Clarence G. Frick returned the flag, 
tattered by the storms of war, and little left beside the staff", to 
Colonel McFadden, at Lewisburg. 

[1847.] March 19, vote in Lewisburg against licensing taverns, 
210; in favor of, 75. In April, price of wheat in Lewisburg was 
^i 30 to ^i 35. May 7, corner-stone of the German Reformed 
church in Lewisburg laid. Reverend Doctor John W. Nevin 
preached and performed the services. In April, the extreme dis- 
tress in Ireland and Scotland, on account of failure of crops, caused 
meetings to be held for their relief, and large contributions of money 
and provisions were made by the people of Buffalo Valley. May 
18, John Lashells, Esquire, died at New Berlin. He came to this 
county from Adams county, and his legal experience was contempo ■ 
rary with the county. He was buried at Buffalo Cross-Roads, on 



S48 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1848. 

the 2oth, the following members of the court and bar attending : 
A. S. Wilson, president judge ; Joseph Stillweh and John Montelius, 
associates ; Hugh Bellas, Ebenezer Grenough, Alexander Jordan, 
James F. Linn, Isaac Slenker, George F. Miller, Joseph Casey, 
Samuel Weirick, D. W. Woods, R. B. Barber, William Van Gezer, 
and Henry C. Hickok. June 2, General R. H. Hammond, who 
was a paymaster in the United States army, died on board of a 
vessel, between Vera Cruz and New Orleans, aged fifty-seven. He 
served in Congress two terms. His body was interred with military 
honors at Milton, on Monday, August 2. Independent Grays, of 
Selinsgrove, Lewisburg Infantry, Danville Rifles, Lycoming and 
Northumberland troops, Masonic fraternity, in full regalia, were 
in procession; General Green commanding the military. In all, 
over six thousand people in attendance upon the ceremonies. In 
August, Alexander McClure was appointed postmaster at Lewisburg, 
wV^ William Murray. On Saturday, August 21, a meeting favor- 
ing the nomination of General Zachary Taylor for President, was 
held at New Berlin. Honorable George Kremer presided ; General 
Abbot Green, William Cameron, Jacob Reedy, Henry Yearick, 
vice presidents; John Walls, Thomas Bower, and John M. Baum, sec- 
retaries. The meeting was addressed by Henry C. Hickok, Esquire, 
and Charles H. Shriner. September 15, a Democratic meeting, pre- 
sided over by John Cummings, junior, recommended General Taylor 
for President. In October, the vote in Union county for Governor 
was, for James Irvin, 2,463; Francis R. Shunk, 1,479. October 9, 
river rose very high, and the west half of the Buffalo creek bridge 
was carried away, and lodged upon the river bridge. The river is 
said to have been one foot higher at Lewisburg than it was in the 
spring of 1846. October 20, Philadelphia synod met at Lewis- 
burg, and was opened by a sermon by Doctor Yeomans, of Danville. 
December 25, O. N. Worden became editor and publisher of the 
Lewisburg Chronicle. 

[1848.] January 8, the German Reformed church at Lewis- 
burg, was dedicated ; the exercises were conducted by Reverend 
H. Harbaugh, pastor, assisted by Reverend Messrs. Fishers and 
Reverend Mr. Funk. It is situated on Third street, below Mar- 
ket, and is sixty feet by forty — H. R. Noll, architect. In Feb- 
ruary ground was broken for the academy building of the Univer- 



1849.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 549 

sity. Noll and Crites had the carpenter work, L. B. Christ the 
brick and plastering ; brick-work was let to Reed & Baker, paint- 
ing to Metzgar & Munson. March 2, a meeting was held to 
secure a suitable place for a cemetery at Lewisburg. The company 
was incorporated April 10, (Pamphlet Laws, 446,) and in July they 
purchased six acres from John Chamberlin, adjoining the western 
limit of the borough. March 17, Reverend Thomas Hood died, 
aged sixty-eight. He was born in Chester county, in July, 1781, 
graduated at Dickinson college at the age of seventeen, studied the- 
ology under Reverend Nathan Grier, of Brandywine, was licensed 
in 1802, and was married April 16, 1803, to Miss Mary Haslet, 
of Chester county. Mrs. Hood died November 10, 1840, and he 
married Miss Hannah McClure, March 4, 1845. His children were 
Mrs. Catherine McCormick, of Mill Hall, Clinton county, Mrs. 
Mary Rutter, Mrs. Margaret Harvey, and Wilson Hood. June 6, 
Charles L. Shoemaker, of West Buffalo, was kicked by a horse, and 
died on the 7th, aged thirty-five years. June 14, J. S. Hawke sold 
the Union Star to D. W. Woods, Esquire. The Union Democrat, 
published at New Berlin, by J. Young. June 9, Lewisburg market : 
wheat, ^i 06; rye, 60 cents; corn, 35 cents; butter, 12 cents. 
October 10, Ner Middleswarth's vote for Canal Commissioner was 
2,941 ; Israel Painter, 1,580. Joseph Casey had 1,333 majority for 
Congress in Union county, and 223 in the district. In November 
General Taylor had 1,473 majority in Union county. In Lewis- 
burg, Taylor had 205 ; Cass, 124; Van Buren, 10. In New Berhn 
Taylor, 79; Cass, 57; Van Buren, 5. 

[1849.] January — , A. Kennedy appointed postmaster at Lew- 
isburg, and R. P. Maclay appointed associate judge of Clarion 
county. Doctor Thomas A. H. Thornton commenced the practice 
of medicine at Lewisburg. The Berlin iron-works were blown out, 
and Forest iron-works in the hands of the sheriff. Tlae California 
gold fever reached the Valley, and on the 26th of February, R. B. 
Green, David Howard, Cyrus Fox, W. H. Chamberlin, Frederick 
Schaffie and John D. Musser, set out for California, by the overland 
route. James K. Kelly, James M. Duncan, and others, left Lewis- 
town for the same destination. March 5, Peter Struble, of West 
Buffalo, aged about fifty-eight, was found dead on the public road 
near Buffalo Cross-Roads. He had accompanied a newly married 



550 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1850. 

daughter to her home in Lycoming county, and was returning 
on foot, when death met him with a paralytic stroke. April 25, 
High's flouring-mill, at White Deer, burned. Over ^5,000 worth 
of grain destroyed. Kaufman & Reber bought the Forest iron- 
works for $7,000. May 21 was the last of the battalions, one com- 
pany only, the Lewisburg infantry, paraded. A great crowd of boys 
and people from the townships had come to Lewisburg. "The 
meanest battalion I ever seed," was the general expression. Octo- 
ber 9, H. M. Fuller, candidate for Canal Commissioner, received 
2,431 votes in Union county; John A. Gamble, 1,820. Colonel Eli 
Slifer's majority over John Cummings, junior, for Assembly, was 
617. Against a poor-house, 2,537 votes were cast; for, 910. No- 
vember 5, James McClellan, Esquire, died, aged eighty-two. He 
had lived over fifty years in the Valley, and was nearly the last of those 
worthies who settled our Valley. He came from Chester county, 
and married Mary Irvine, daughter of Captain William Irvine, of 
the Valley. He was a school-master and justice of the peace for 
many years. He was considered by many, who could not appre- 
ciate his worth, as an obstinate man, the true reason of which was, 
that he was firm in his opinions, and in nine cases out of ten right. 
I never knew a man who was more willing to acknowledge his error 
when he discovered it. Among his last expressions was, "when a 
man came to die, this world and all its interests were of little ac- 
count." He was a living encyclopedia of church history, and with 
him passed away forever many interesting incidents of the early his- 
tory of the Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania. — J. F. Linn's 
Diary. 

[1850.] January 2, H. C. Hickok, Esquire, takes the editorial 
chair of the Lewisbwg Chronicle, O. N. Worden, publisher, and 
Reverend Henry Harbaugh issues the first number of The Guardian. 
February 26, report of James Marshall, John App, and Leonard 
Wolfe confirmed, erecting a new township, which the court direct 
shall be called Limestone. 



1850.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 55^ 



Taxables. If^iZtt 

Buffalo, 251 ^573,260 

Buffalo, East, 198 282,842 

Buffalo, West, 294 391,144 

Hartley, 384 403'49S 

Kelly, 209 299,007 

Union, 346 44i>io5 

White Deer, 315 233,575 

Lewisburg, 428 168,782 

Mifflinburg, 207 57)i47 

New Berlin, 153 86,922 

In April, Frick & Slifer removed their boat-yard to Lewisburg, 
a pecuniary advantage both to the borough and the Valley, which 
should be specially noted. April 18, Doctor Robert Vanvalzah died 
at Buffalo Cross-Roads, aged eighty-five. He was born near Croton 
river. New York, April 17, 1764, and when a boy of sixteen, he 
served two tours in the militia with the Continental an"^y. He 
came to Buffalo Valley in 1786, so poor, that one of the Beattys 
gave him a shilling to pay his ferriage over the river at Sunbury, a 
favor he never forgot, and repaid with much interest in providing 
for one of the family for many years. He settled on Penn's creek, 
and in connection with his father-in-law. Colonel Sutherland, built 
the mills, two miles below New Berlin, lately owned by the Maurers. 
He located at Buffalo Cross-Roads, about the year 1796, and his his- 
tory is intimately associated with that of the Valley for sixty-four 
years. His practice extended into the present counties of Mifflin, 
Centre, and Juniata. Two of his sons, Doctors Thomas and Robert, 
became eminent practitioners in the Valley, and his grandsons, in 
the same profession, have been and are numerous and skillful. In 
May, Reverend D. Y. Heisler was installed pastor of the German 
Reformed church at Lewisburg, and a post-ofhce was established at 
Forest Hill in West Buffalo township, on the Brush Valley road, A. 
H. Lutz, postmaster. In April, wheat at Lewisburg was at 95 cents 
to ^i 00, and in June, ^1 05 to ^i 10. June 7, Captain William 
Housel died in Lewisburg, aged sixty-one. He served five years in 
the regular army, was captured in 1813, taken to Quebec, and there 
was exchanged, and rejoined his regiment. He was in the engage- 



SS2 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



[1851. 



ments at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, and was in Fort Erie when 
the magazine exploded. He was buried with mihtary honors by the 
Lewisburg infantry and the Cameron guards. Thursday and Fri- 
day, July 1 8 and 19, a north-east storm raged for thirty-two hours. 
Limestone run higher than ever known, and Chillisquaque creek 
higher than known before in fifty-seven years. In October, Henry 
W. Snyder had 2,172 votes for Auditor General; Ephraim Banks, 
1,443. ■^o'" th^ judicial amendment, 1,45 1 votes were cast; against, 
1,424. 

Census of 1850. 



Buffalo, . 
Buffalo, East, 
Buffalo, West, 
Hartley, 
Kelly, . . 
Lewisburg, . 
Limestone, . 



1,346 

970 

1,007 

2,142 

834 

2,042 

807 



Mifainburg, 
New Berlin, 
Union, . 
White Deer, 



783 
741 

1.452 

1,537 



Total, 13,631 



[ 1 85 1 .] Honorable Ner Middleswarth was the Whig caucus nom- 
inee for State Treasurer. The following post-offices were established 
in January : Chestnut Ridge, Samuel R. Baum, postmaster ; Dry 
Valley, J. Mitman ; Winfield, M. H. Taggert ; Crotzerville, H. 
Heiser. In April, the old bridge at the mouth of Buffalo creek was 
removed, and a new one commenced. The Sugar Valley and White 
Deer turnpike received an appropriation from the State, and was 
completed. Volksfreund, started at New Berlin, byF. & E. Smith. 
April 26, Thomas Howard, in digging a ditch, near his residence, in 
Kelly, dug up a tusk of a mammoth, ten feet long and nine inches 
in diameter. It was found in a layer of blue clay, two feet below the 
surface. In May wheat was 80 to 85 cents; rye, 50 cents; corn, 
50 cents. May 26, the telegraphic wire was brought to Lewisburg, 
and before night a message dispatched to Philadelphia, and an 
answer received ; and a meeting was held favoring the construction 
of the Susquehanna railroad, on the west side of the river, from 
Sunbury to Williamsport. August 20, the first commencement of 
the University at Lewisburg was held, and its first class graduated as 
follows : Salutatory, J. M. Linn, Washington Barnhurst of Philadel- 
phia, R. M. Fish of Beaver, George O. Ide of Philadelphia, J. M. 



1852.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 553 

Lyons of Chester county, Henry Poraerene of Pittsburgh. Vale- 
dictorian : J. H. Castle. The degrees were conferred by Professor 
Taylor, and Professor George R. Bliss delivered his inaugural ad- 
dress. Professor S. W. Taylor then took formal leave of the insti- 
tution, having accepted the presidency of Madison university at 
Hamilton, New York ; and Doctor Howard Malcolm was formally 
installed president of the University by Thomas Watson, Esquire, 
president of the board of trustees. October 14, vote in Union 
county: For Governor, Wilham F. Johnston, 2,817 ; William Big- 
ler, 1,949. For president judge, Joseph Casey received 2,379, and 
A. S. Wilson, 2,283. 

[1853.] March 1 3 , a railroad convention was held at Baltim ore , 
attended largely by delegates from the Valley. April 15, Daniel L. 
Miller, junior, Esquire, president of the Sunbury and Erie railroad, 
visited Lewisburg and endeavored to interest the people in favor of 
that road, but public sympathy was with the Susquehanna or Balti- 
more company, and the railroad controversy was inaugurated, which 
ended in 1855 with a division of Union county by a proposition 
that the county commissioners should subscribe ^200,000 to the stock 
of the road. This was done by Captain John Wilt and George 
Heimbach, county commissioners, on the 28th of April. The 
borough authorities of Lewisburg subsequently subscribed $75,000. 
In May the Union County mutual fire insurance company was or- 
ganized; John Gundy, president, J. A. Mertz, Esquire, secretary. 
June 10, weather as cold as in December, a heavy frost on the morn- 
ing of the nth. August 31, the largest meeting ever witnessed in 
New Berlin assembled to take action on the railroad question. The 
court-house being too small, the meeting convened in front of the 
public buildings. John Swineford nominated R. B. Barber for presi- 
dent, and took the ayes, but not the nays. He then read a list of 
vice presidents and secretaries. The nays were again demanded, 
and when put the whole organization was voted down. C. H. 
Shriner attempted to offer a resolution, and Mr. Barber proceeded 
to state the object of the meeting, but his voice was drowned by a 
shout that compelled him to desist. Mr. Casey then nominated Hon- 
orable Ner Middleswarth for president, which motion was carried. 
He was helped into the wagon, and proceeded to state the object of. 
the meeting. The repudiators of the bonds had retreated to the steps 



554 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1853. 

of the jail to make another stand, when a delegation of them sallied 
forth, seized the wagon, and carried off president Middleswarth and 
his fellow officers around the corner towards Penn's creek. The 
audience, however, kept its place, and the president returned and 
mounted another wagon, when the meeting was addressed by Messrs. 
Casey, S. C. Wilt, G. F. Miller, and resolutions passed approving 
of the ^200,000 subscription to the Susquehanna railroad. 

The watchword of the Democratic party this fall in the county, 
"no more hay for Breyman's cow," arose from the fact that C. 
Breyman farmed and pastured the public lots. October 12, for 
Canal Commissioner, Jacob Hoffman received 2,555 ; William Hop- 
kins, 1,807. Ner Middleswarth, for Congress, had 706 majority; 
Adam Sheckler, for county commissioner, had 718 majority over 
Philip Ruhl. 

The Union County agricultural society was formed at the court- 
house at New Berlin, Saturday, November 13; the East Buffalo 
society, which had been in existence for a year, passed a resolution 
calling the meeting for such organization. Martin Dreisbach presided 
at this meeting, Samuel Weirick acting as secretary, and Jacob Gundy 
presented a form of constitution, which, after several amendments, 
was adopted. Jacob Gundy was elected president of the society; 
Samuel Shedle, of Perry, and others, vice presidents; R. H. Laird, 
treasurer; R. V. B. Lincoln, assistant secretary; O. N. Worden, 
recording secretary; Samuel Weirick, librarian; executive commit- 
tee, James P. Ross, Isaac Slenker, and Henry W. Snyder. Li No- 
vember, Nesbit Hayes and Fichthorn commenced erecting the first 
steam flouring-mill, upon W^ater street, in Lewisburg. December 
14, at a meeting held at New Berlin the Crawford county system of 
voting directly for candidates was proposed. Joseph Casey, Esquire, 
Israel Gutelius, and John Wilt favoring its introduction. Ner Mid- 
dleswarth, D. A. Woods, Samuel Weirick, and James Marshall, op- 
posing. It was finally agreed to try the system for one year. 

[1853.] February 11, a meeting was held at Potter's Fort tavern 
favorable to building a railroad from Lewisburg to Spruce creek, 
and on the 12th of April, the Lewisburg, Centre, and Spruce Creek 
railroad company was incorporated, and on the T6th of May Thomas 
A. Emmett, with a corps of engineers, commenced the survey. 
April 20, the Lewisburg saving institution was incorporated ; books 



1854.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 555 

were opened on the 23d of June, and two hundred shares taken. It 
commenced business September 19, with William Cameron as presi- 
dent, H. P. Sheller, cashier. In October, the vote in Union county- 
was, for Thomas A. Budd, judge of the Supreme Court, 2,616 ; 
John C. Knox, 1,521. On 13th and 14th of October, " The Union 
County agricultural society" held its fair at New Berlin ; two hun- 
dred and seventy five articles were entered for competition, and a 
plowing match came off. October 15, Frick, Slifer & Co.'s steam 
saw-mill burned down, with the newly erected county bridge, three 
boats, &c. Captain John Forster appointed postmaster at Mifflin- 
burg, and Henry W. Crotzer, at Lewisburg. December 9, the 
workmen on the Susquehanna railroad, about two and a half miles 
below Lewisburg, on Major John Gundy's farm, came upon the 
skeleton of a full grown person covered with stones. The bones 
crumbled on exposure. The site was on the side of a steep and 
almost impassible hill, and the body must have been deposited there 
with considerable effort. 

[1854.] In April, price of wheatwas ^i 50; rye, 75 cents; corn, 
55 cents. In June, wheat advanced to ^i 87. At February term 
Jackson township was formed, out of parts of Penn's, Middle Creek, 
Limestone, and Union townships. In June, Professor J. S. Whit- 
man was elected the first superintendent of public schools for Union 
county, with a salary of I300, and one hundred and fifty schools to 
oversee. July 15, W. A. Patterson, of Kelly, died, in his eighty- 
third year. He held a pen in his hand, preparatory to signing a 
note, when the "grim messenger" came, and he died before mak- 
ing a mark. Honorable George Kremer died, near Middleburg, on 
Sunday, September to, aged seventy-nine. His last public appear- 
ance was in July, 1847, when he presided over a public meeting, 
held at New Berhn, to advocate the election of General Taylor to 
the presidency. He was buried in the family burying- ground, on 
his own farm, on Wednesday, attended by a large concourse of peo- 
ple. The new Christian chapel, on Third street, below Market, in 
Lewisburg, was built this year. At the election, in October, James 
Pollock had 2,881, and William Bigler, 1,913, for Governor in 
Union county. The vote in the county for a prohibitory liquor law 
was 1,440; against, 2,614. In October, the Union furnace at Win- 
field was built by Beaver, Marsh & Co. The University extension 



5i-6 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. [1855. 

of the town plan of Lewisburg laid out by Reverend A. K; Bell, 
treasurer of the University, and James F. Linn, surveyor. 

[1855.] Wheat, in March, $2 00 ; rye, $\ 00 ; corn, 75 cents ; 
butter, 16 cents; eggs, 12 cents. Chronicle published by O. N. Wor- 
den and J. R. Cornelius, Henry C. Hickok having been appointed 
Deputy Superintendent of Public Schools. Thursday evening, 
January 18, Clinton Welch, Esquire, a lawyer from Lewisburg, was 
drowned in the Delaware, at Philadelphia. March 2, the act creat- 
ing a new county^ to be called Snyder, out of Union, was approved. 
The election provided for therein was held on the 14th of March. 
The vote was as follows : 

For. Against. 

Buffalo, 189 84 

Buffalo, East, 175 4 

Buffalo, West, 114 62 

Hartley, 152 191 

Kelly, 143 22 

Lewisburg, 485 i 

Limestone, 3 60 

Mifflinburg, 69 92 

White Deer, 254 21 

In the county the vote stood, for division, 1,688 ; against, 1,643. 
In May, Union seminary at New Berlin was established. Reverend 
W. W. Orwig, president; Reverend F. C. Hendricks and Hoffman, 
professors. October 9, the election was held to determine the site 
of the county seat, Lewisburg and Mifflinburg were the competing 
towns, having each furnished a guarantied subscription, that the 
county buildings should be erected by the successful town, without 
any cost to the taxpayers. The vote was as follows : 



1855.] ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 557 



For Lewisburg, For MifflinburK. 

Lewisburg, North Ward, 286 — 

" South Ward, 233 — 

East Buffalo, i74 8 

Union, ' 79 26 

Kelly, 145 21 

White Deer, 255 26 

Buffalo, 157 121 

West Buffalo, 13 200 

Hartley, 78 321 

New BerHn, 7 139 

Jackson, 4 39 

Limestone, 5 129 

Mifflinburg, i 196 

1,436 1,226 
For Canal Commissioner, Nicholson's majority was 607. 

Gensus Returns for 1860 and 1870. 

I860. 1870. 

Buffalo, 1,560 1,521 

Buffalo, East, . . . . ' 968 1,011 

Buffalo, West, 1,075 1,046 

Hartley, 1,530 1,143 

Hartleton, (incorporated 1858,) .... 288 292 

Kelly, 779 942 

Lewisburg, 2,666 3,121 

Lewis, (taken from Hartley 1856,) . . . 658 1,007 

Limestone, 913 880 

Mifflinburg, 865 911 

New Berhn, 672 646 

Union, 820 840 

White Deer, 1,639 1,676 



14,433 15,036 






LIST OP OFFICIALS. 



MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. 



District composed of the Counties of 
Northumberland, Union, Colum- 
bia, Sasquehanna and Luzerne. 

1814-15, Thomas Murray, junior. 

1816-17, Charles Fraser. 

1818-19, Simon Snyder. 

1820-21, Redmond Conyngham. 

Northumberland and Union. 
1822, Andrew Albright. 
1823-26, Lewis Dewart. 
1826-30, John Ray. 
1830-34, Samuel J. Packer. 
1834-38. Isaac Slenker. 

Perry, Mifflin, Juniata, Union, 

and Huntingdon. 
1837-3S, Isaac Slenker. 
1838-39, Robert P. Maclay. 
1841-42, Robert P. Maclay. 

1843, Henry C. Eyer. 

Mifflin, Union, and Juniata. 

1844, Henry C. Eyer. 
1845-48, Jacob Wagenseller.* 

* JDiea, 1847. f Vice Wagenseller. 



1848, Ner Middleswarth.f 
1849-51, Jonathan J. Cunningham. 
1852-54, EliSlifer. 
1855-57, James M. Sellers. | 

Clinton, Lycoming, Centre, and 
Union. 
1858, Andrew Gregg. 
1859-61, Andrew Gregg. 
1862-64, Henry Johnson. 

Lycoming, Union, and Snyder. 
1865-67, John Walls. 
1868-70, John B. Beck. 
1871-73, Andrew H. Dill. 

Snyder, Perry, Northumberland, 
and Union. 

1872-73, Andrew H. Dill, 
1873-76, Andrew H. Dill. 

Union, Snyder, and Nort/iumber- 

land. 
1875-76, Andrew H. Dill. 



t Died in Philadelphia, June 21, 1877. 



MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY. 



District composed of tlie Counties of 
Nortliumberland, Union, and Co- 
lumbia. 

1814-15, David E. Owen. 
Robert Willett. 
Joseiah Hutchinson. 
Henry Shaifer. 

Union County. 
1815-16, Ner Middleswarth. 



1815-16, Jacob Brobst. 
1816-17, Ner Middleswarth. 

Jacob Brobst. 
1817-18, Frederick Stees. 

Joseph Stillwell. 
1818-19, John Ray. 

Ner Middleswarth. 
1819-20, John Ray. 

Ner Middleswarth. 
1820-21, Frederick Wise. 

Dan Caldwell. 



558 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



559 



1821-22, Ner Middleswarth. 

James Dale. 
1822-23, Simon Snyder. 

James Dale. 
1823-24, James Dale. 

Simon Snyder. 
1824-25, Ner Middleswarth. 

William Porster. 
1825-26, Ner Middleswarth. 

James Madden. 
1826-27, James Madden. 

William Forster, junior. 
1827-28, Ner Middleswarth. 

John Dreisbach. 
1828-29, John Dreisbach. 

Ner Middleswarth. 
1829-30, Ner Middleswarth. 

Philip Ruhl. 
1830-31, Ner Middleswarth. 

Philip Rulil. 
1831-32, Henry Roush. 

Philip Ruhl. 
1832-33, William L. Harris. 

George Weirick. 
1833-34, Robert P. Maclay. 

Simon Sliaflfer. 
1834-35, ISTer Middleswarth, 

Jacob Hummel. 

1835-36, Ner Middleswarth. 

John Montelius. 

Union, Juniata, and Mifflin. 
1836-37, Plenry Yearick. 

Enoch Beale. 

James Hughes. 
1837-38, Abraham S. Wilson. 

James Hughes. 

Henrv Yearick. 
1838-39, John Funk. 

William Ramsey. 

John Montelius. 

1840, Abraham S. Wilson. 
Isaac Hottenstein. 
William Cox, senior. 

1841, Ner Middleswarth. 
Jolm Funk. 

. Joseph A. Bell. 

1842, John H. MeCrum. 
William Ross. 
John A. Vanvalzah. 

1843, Tliomas J. Postlethwaite. 
David Glenn. 

Samuel Reber. 

Union and Juniata. 

1844, John Hall, 
John Adams. 

1845, John Hall. 
John Adams. 

1846, John McCrum. 
Jacob McCorley. 

1847, Jacob McCorley. 



1857, 
1858, 

1859, 

1860, 

1861, 

1862, 
1863, 
1864, 



1847, John McMinn. 

1848, JohnMcMinn. 
Samuel Weirick. 

1849, Samuel Weirick. 
John McLaughlin. 

1850, Eli Slifer. 

Jolm McLaughlin. 

1851, Eli Slifer. 

1852, William Sharon. 

1853, John Beale. 

1854, John W. Simonton. 

1855, J. W. Crawford. 

Union, Juniata, and Snyder. 

1856, George W. Strouse. 
Thomas Bower. 
Thomas Hayes. 
Daniel Witmer. 
John J. Patterson. 
William F. Wagenseller. 
Thomas Hayes. 
William F. Wagenseller. 
Thomas Hayes. 
John J. Patterson. 
H. K. Ritter. 
J. Beaver. 
H. K. Ritter. 
George W. Strouse. 
John Balsbach. 
Samuel H. Orwig. 

Lycoming, Union, and Snyder. 

1865, S. H. Orwig. 
Samuel Alleman. 
Charles Wilson. 

1866, S. C. Wingard. 
D. A. Irwin. 
Isaac Rothrock. 

1867, S. C. Wingard. 
Charles D. Roush. 
J. H. Wright. 

1868, R. H. Lawshe. 
C. D. Roush. 
George G. Glass. 

1869, W. P. I. Painter. 
Thomas Church. 
William G. Herrold. 

1870, Theodore HUl. 
Thomas Church. 
Andrew H. Dill. 

1871, Samuel Wilson. 
John Cummings. 
William Young. 

Snyder and Union. 

1872, William G. Herrold. 

1873, Charles S. Wolfe. 

1874, Charles S. Wolfe. 

Union. 
1875-76, Charles S. Wolfe. 
1877-78, Alfred Hayes. 



s6o 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



PRESIDENT JUDGES. 



Seth Chapman*. . . July 11, 1811 
Ellis Lewis, .... Oct. 14, 1833 
Abraham S. Wilson, . Mar, 30, 1842 



S. S. Woods, . . 
Joseph C. Bucher, . 



Nov. 20, 1861 
Nov, 7, 1871 



Hugh Wilson, . 
John Bolencler,! 
Adam Light, . . 
George Schnable, 
John Baslvin, 
Joseph Stillwell, 
John Montelius, 
Jacob Wittenmyer, 
James Harrison, 
James Marsliall, 
Jacob Wittenmyer, J . 
* Resigned, October 10, 



ASSOCIATE JUDGES. 

Oct. 11, 1813 Philip Buhl, . . . 

Aiig. 26, 1815 Jolni W. Simonton, 

Dec. 11, 1820 John Walls, . . , 

Mar. 26, 1840 Jolm W. Simonton, 

Mar. 15, 1841 Martin Dreisbach, . 

Jan, 21, 1843 Martin Dreisbach, , 

Feb, 27, 1845 John W, Simonton, 

Feb, 28, 1848 Jacob Hummel, 

Mar. 7, 1850 Cyrus Hoffa, . . . 

Nov, 10, 1851 Jacob Hummel, 

Nov, 10, 1851 William F, Wilson, 
1833. t Resigned, December 11, 1820. 



. Nov. 17, 1855 
. Nov. 12, 1856 
. Nov. 20, 1860 
. Nov. 28, 1861 
. Feb. 3, 1865 
. Nov. 6, 1865 
. Nov. 9, 1866 
, Nov. 9, 1870 
. Nov. 17, 1871 
. Dec. 3, 1875 
. Dec. 8, 1876 
J Legislated out. 



DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL. 



William Irwin, 1814 

John Lashells, 1815 

M. McKinney, junior, . . . 1818 

James Merrill, 1821 

John Mumma, 1824 

C. A, Bradford, 1826 

John A. Sterrett, . . , Feb, 1828 
John Wyeth, Sept, 1828 



Isaac Slenker, 1830 

Samuel Weirick 1836 

Robert B, Barber, 1839 

John Porter, 1842 

George W, Graham, . • . . 1843 

Robert B. Barber, 1846 

William Van Gezer, .... 1848 



DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. 



George Hill, . . 


. . . Dec. 1850 1 


Joseph C. Bucher, . 


. . Dec, 


1859 


William Van Gezer, . . Dec. 1853 


Alfred Hayes, . . 


. . Dec. 


1862 


James B. Hamlin, 


. , . Dec. 1856 
PROTHON 


Andrew A. Leiser, 
OTARIES. 


, , Sept. 


1876 


Simon Snyder, jr.,* . Oct. 14, 1813 


John P. Gutelius, . . 


Oct. 13, 


1840 


Joseph Stillwell, 


. Feb, 7, 1821 


William Roshong, , 


Nov. 12, 


1841 


George A. Snyder, 


. Jan. 22, 1824 


Jacob Haus, . . , 


Nov. 11, 


1847 


Josepli Stillwell, 


. Jan, 28, 1830 


Joseph Eyster, . . 


Nov. 25, 


1850 


Robert P. Maclay, 


. Jan, 6, 1836 


Samuel Roush, . . 


Nov. 22, 


1853 


Samuel Roush, . 


, Jan. 31, 1839 


James W. Sands, . 


Nov. — , 


1862 


Jacob H. Horning, 


. Nov. 14, 1839 


C. H. Hassenplug, 


Nov. 18, 


1865 


* Simon Snyder, junior. Esquire, was b 


orn at Lancaster, November 9, 1762 


, and 


died at Harrisburg, May 10, 1833. 










REGISTERS AN 


D RECORDERS. 






Simon Snyder, junior, Oct, 14, 1813 | 


Henry Aurand, j unior 


, Aug. 25, 


1845 


Peter Hackenberg 


. Feb. 7, 1821 


Daniel Bellman, . . 


Nov. 17, 


1845 


John Maclay, . 


. Jan. 22, 1824 


Christian Breyman, . 


Nov. 22, 


1851 


Samuel Roush, . 


. Jan. 28, 1830 


J. W, Pennington, 


Nov. 29, 


1854 


George Aurand, 


. Jan. 6, 1836 


George Merrill, . . 


Nov. 27, 


1857 


Robert Forster, . 


. Jan. 31, 1839 


Elisha H. Weikel, . 


Nov. 28, 


1863 


John Glover, 


. Nov. 14, 1839 


Reuben Kline, . . . 


Nov. 22, 


1869 


Samuel Aurand, 


. Nov. 12, 1842 









ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



561 



SHERIFFS. 



John Ray 

Frederick Wise, 
Isaac Mertz, ... 
Jacob Rhoads, . . 
Philip Seebold, 
John Haas, . . . 
Jolm Cumniings, . 
Jolni Cumniings, jr., 
William Glover, 
Israel Grutelius, 
John M. Benfer, . 



Dec. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 



13, 


1813 


30, 


1816 


30, 


1819 


21, 


1822 


20, 


1825 


24, 


1828 


18, 


1831 


3, 


1834 


17, 


1837 


24, 


1840 


17, 


1843 



Henry S. Boyer, . 
Archibald Thomas, 
John Kessler, . . 
Daniel D. Guldin, . 
Lafayette Albright, 
Thomas Church, . 
Lafayette Albright, 
Michael Kleckner, 
Lafayette Albright, 
Thomas P. Wagner, 



Oct. 


24, 


1846 


Oct. 


24, 


1849 


Oct. 


27, 


1852 


Oct. 


24, 


1855 


Dec. 


16, 


1861 


Dec. 


16, 


1864 


Dec. 


17, 


1867 


Dec. 


10, 


1870 


Nov 


31, 


1873 


Dec. 


26, 


1876 



COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 



1813 


Dan Caldwell, Frederick Gut- 


1845, 




elius, and Philip Moore. 


1846, 


1814, 


James Dale. 


1847, 


1815, 


John Bower. 


1848, 


1816 


Henry Roush. 


1849, 


1817 


Mishael Lincoln. 


1850, 


1818 


Jacob German. 


1851, 


1819 


William Kessler. 


1852, 


1820 


Sebastian Witmer. 


1853, 


1821 


Joseph Fuehrer. 


1854, 


1822 


Christian Miller. 


1855, 


1823 


Uriah Silsby. 




1824 


George Weirick. 


1856, 


1825, 


Samuel Aurand. 


1857, 


1826 


John Montelius. 


1858, 


1827 


Thomas Youngman. 


1859, 


1828 


John Ziegier. 


1860, 


1829 


William Betz. 


1861, 


1830 


Peter Hackenburg. 


1862, 


1831 


Philip Franck. 


1863, 


1832 


J. F. Wilson. 


1864, 


1833 


John Keller. 


1865, 


1834 


James Harrison. 


1866, 


1835 


Samuel B. Barber. 


1867, 


1836 


John K. Snyder. 


1868, 


1887 


Archibald Thomas. 


1869, 


1838 


Jacob Hummel. 


1870, 


1839 


Henry Hilbish. 


1871, 


1840 


Samuel Boop. 


1872, 


1841 


Jacob McCorley. 


1873, 


1842 


Solomon Engel. 


1874, 


1843 


Michael Clemens. 


1875, 


1844 


Henry Saunders, junior. 





Jacob Martin. 
R. H. Laird. 
Joseph Winters. 
James Barbin. 
John WUt. 
George Heimbach. 
S. K. Herrold. 
Adam Sheckler. 
Sem Leitzel. 
John D. Romig. 
R. V. B. Lincoln, Jacob Hum- 
mel, George Schoch. 
William Rule. 
R. V. B. Lincoln. 
James Pross. 

D. H. Kelly. 
F. Bolender. 
J. M. Walters. 
Robert Reed. 
Samuel Marshall. 
Michael Kleckner. 
Michael Brown. 
T. V. Harbeson. 
S. B. Hoffman. 

E. S. Gudykunst. 
T. V. Harbeson. 
S. B. Hoffman. 
Willam Steans. 
J. W. Kauffinan. 
Jose]3h Boop. 
George Schoch. 

Joseph Boop, George Schoch 
and John Yarger. 



COMMISSIONERS' CLERKS. 



1813, Flavel Roan. 
1817, Frederick Gutelius. 
1821, JohnMauch. 
1831, J. H. Horning. 
1834, S. Weirich. 
1836, M. H. Weaver. 
1841, J. J. Maclay. 

36 



1843, J. S. Dubois. 

1851, C. Breyman. 

1851, (Nov.,) David Schwenck. 

1853, A. J. Peters. 

1855, Andrew Kennedy. 

1869, Peter Hursh. 



562 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



COUNTY TREASURERS. 



1814, 


Michael Schoch. 


1851, 


1817, 


Joseph Stillwell. 


1853, 


1818, 


Thomas Shipton. 


1855, 


1820, 


Christopher Seebold. 


1857, 


1823, 


William Kessler. 


1859, 


1826, 


Samuel Wilson. 


1861, 


1829, 


Samuel Aurand. 


1863, 


1831, 


.Jacob Mauck. 


1865, 


1835, 


Isaac Peters. 


1867, 


1838, 


John P. Seebold. 


1869, 


1841, 


Michael Kleckner. 


1871, 


1843, 


Philip Gross. 




1845, 


Archibald Thomas. 




1847, 


Charles Seebold. 


1873, 


1849, 


Daniel Horlacher. 


1875, 




DEPUTY SI 


JRVE 



Jacob Mauck. 

Henrv Solomon. 

R. H.' Laird. 

H. P. Sheller. 

R. H. Laird. 

John A. Mertz. 

William Jones. 

John Hayes. 

William .Jones. 

William Hauck. 

John Hertz, deceased. Wil- 

liain Jones apijointed to fill 

vacancy. 
James Pross. 
B. F. Eaton. 



1813, Simon Snvder, j unior. 
1818, Adam Wilt. 
1821, John Hayes. 
1833, Robert G. H. Hayes. 
1836, Solomon Engle. 
1836, Michael H. Weaver. 
1839, Robert G. H. Hayes. 
1846, James Madden. 



1846, Philip Hilbish. 
1850, Robert G. H. Hayes. 
1854, J. Henry Motz. 

1858, Wilson I. Linn. 

1859, Conrad Sheckler. 
1868, Reuben F. Brown. 
1874. Conrad Sheckler. 



CORONERS. 



1816, Isaac Mertz. 

1819, Daniel Winter. 

1822, Jacob Swineford. 

1825, Christian Shroyer. 

1828, Robert Vanvalzah, junior. 

1831, John Bower. 



1834, .Jacob Aurand. 
1837, Joseph Long. 

1841, Matthew Brewer. 

1842, Jacob Reichley. 
1845, John D. Smith. 
1858, William L. Harris. 



NOTARIES PUBLIC. 



Christian Miller, . 
Henry C. Hickok, 
George A. Frick, . 
O. Norton Worden, 
John B. Miller, . 
Samuel Slifer, . . 
William Jones, 
Andrew Kennedy, 
George A. Frick, . 
Samuel Slifer, . . 
Andrew Kennedy, 
.Joseph J. R. Orwig, 
Samuel Slifer, . . 
Andrew Kennedy, 
S. P. Myers, . . . 
Samuel'Slifer, . . 



Jan. 


6, 


1820 


Andrew Kennedy, 


Oct. 


30, 


1867 


April 


12, 


1853 


Simon P. Myers, . 


Aprl 


7, 


1868 


Dec. 


28, 


1854 


Paul Geddes, . . 


. July 


15, 


1869 


May 


W, 


1855 


John Stitzer, . . 


. Nov. 


12, 


1869 


Aug. 


12, 


1856 


Samuel Slifer, . . 


. Jan. 


fi, 


1870 


Dec. 


9, 


1857 


Mellville Reese Dill, 


May 


5, 


1870 


Jan. 


12, 


1858 


John S. Stitzer, 


. Nov. 


15, 


1872 


.Jan. 


15, 


1858 


Samuel Slifer, . . 


. Jan. 


9, 


1873 


Jan. 


2 


1861 


William Rule, . . 


April 30^ 


1873 


Jan. 


12! 


1861 


D. B. Miller, . . 


. May 


6, 


1873 


Jvme 24, 


1861 


Samuel Slifer, . . 


. Jan. 


12, 


1876 


Jan. 


l-l, 


1864 


John Stitzer, ' . . 


. Jan. 


22, 


1876 


Jan. 


14, 


1864 


William Rule, . . 


. Mar. 


20, 


1876 


June 


29, 


1864 


D. B. Miller, . . 


May 


3, 


1876 


Apri 


7, 


1865 


G. N. LeFevre, 


. Mar. 


29, 


1877 


Jan. 


11, 


1867 











ANNALS OF BUFFA'LO VALLEY. 



S(>3 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE BY APPOINTMENT. 



John Bolender, . . . 

George Weirick, . . 

Thomas Shipton, . . 

Thomas Youngman, . 

John Cummings, . . 

Christopher Seebold, . 

Henrv Siavker, . . . 

Adam Wilt, . . . . 

Henry Yearick, . . 

John Wilson, . . . 

Philip Burchart, . . 

Joseph Fuehrer, . , 
Peter Hackenberg, j r. , 

Dan Caldwell, . . , 

Christian Miller, . , 

Frederick Gutelius, , 
Abraham Aurand, 

William Kessler,* . . 

John Schnee, . . . 

George Schnable, . , 

Jacob German,! • ■ 

Robert Willett, . . , 
Andrew McClenahan, 

Samuel Wilson, . , 

Michael Rathfon, . , 

John Reifsnyder, . , 

John Bassler, . . . 
George Aurand, 

JohnNesbit, . . . . 
James McClellan, 

Sanruel Haupt, . . . 

John Glover, j unior, . 

Jacob German, . . . 
Valentine Haas, 
Samuel Ludwig, . 
Charles Weirman, . 
Joseph Still well, . 
Joseph Musser, . . 
Mathew Brewer, J . 
John Mauck, . . . 
Solomon Engle, 
William Cameron, 
Thomas R. Lewis, . 



Mar. 2C, 1S13 
Mar. 2P, 1813 
Aug. 27, 1813 
Nov. 10, 1813 
Dec. 10, 1813 
Mar. 2(), 1813 
Mar. 30, 1813 
Mar. 26, 1813 
Mar. 26, 1813 
Nov. 1. 1813 
Mar. 26, 1813 
Mar. 26, 1813 
Mar. 26, 1813 
Mar. 26, 1813 
Jan. 25, 1814 
Nov. 11, 1814 
June 23, 1814 
June 24, 1816 
Mav 13, 1816 
July 14, 1817 
May 9, 1817 
Oct. 20, 1817 
May 30, 1817 
June 3, 1819 
Mar. 16, 1819 
June 3, 1819 
May 17, 1819 
Jan. 4, 1820 
Mar. 26, 1821 
June 4, 1821 
Oct. 4, 1821 
Mar. 21, 1822 
Mar. 29, 1822 
Sept. 23, 1822 
Mar. 29, 1822 
Dec. 11, 1823 
Nov. 18, 1823 
Dec. 8, 1823 
Dec. 10, 1823 
Jvme 22, 1825 

, Apr. 17, 1827 
Feb. 19, 1827 

, Nov. 23, 1827 



* Ke3igned, A.pril 30, 1819. 



Henry Strubel, . . . Apr. 14, 1828 
Henry Herold, . . . Apr. 14, 1828 
Hottenstine, Dr. Isaac, Mar. 12, 1828 
Michael Wittenmoyer, Apr. 20, 1829 
Isaac Smith, .... Apr, 20, 1829 
James Fleming Lum, Jan. 2, 1829 
John Maclay, . . . Dec. 7, 1829 
Robert G. H. Hayes, . Mar. 12, 1829 
Simon Snyder, . . . Feb. 3, 1829 
John Rank, .... Feb. 3, 1829 
Jacob McCorley, . . Feb. 3, 1829 
George Clingan, . . Dec. 15, 1829 
Amos Stroll, .... Mav 5, 1830 
James Madden, . . . Feb. 24, 1831 
Samuel Geddes, . . Aug. 2, 1831 
John Reifsnyder, . . Apr. 25, 1831 
Jacob J. Marr, . . . May 31, 1831 
Jacob Musser, . . . May 17, 1832 
William Kessler, . . Jan. 11. 1833 
William Roshong, . . Sept. 3, 1834 
Jonathan Farnswarth, Feb. 2, 1835 
John Highlv, . . . Nov. 18, 1835 
Isaac Jones, .... Mar. 27, 1835 
Samuel Roush, . . . Deo. 1, 1835 
Henry Noll, .... Dec. 9, 1835 
Peter H. Hawk, . . Nov. 4, 1835 
John Lenig, .... Apr. 20, 1835 
John Emmit, . . . Mar. 14, 1835 
David Schwenck, . . June 7, 1836 
.lames Harrison. . . Feb. 3, 1833 
Samuel B. Barber, . June 7, 1836 
Peter Hackenberg, sr., June 8, 1836 
Philip Ruhl, .... Mar. 27, 1837 
Joseph McCool, . . . Nov. 6, 1837 
Daniel Bellman, . . Mar. 3, 1837 
Andrew Glover, . . Mar. 27, 1837 
John Courtney, . . . Oct. 24, 1838 
Lewis Bertram, . . . Dec. 25, 1838 
Levi B. Christ, . . . Jan. 3, 1838 
Jacob F. Hummel, . Nov. 14, 1838 
Jacob Riblet, . . . Dec. 26, 1838 
Conrad Stock, . . . Jan. 11, 1839 
George N. Youngman, Apr. 16, 1839 

t Resigned, December 14, 1821. 



X Resigned, September 2T, 1838. 



NECROLOGY, 



COMMENCED BY JAMES E. LINN, Esquire, in 1826. 



Date of h 
Death. |^ 



Ackerman, Mrs. C, Jan. 
Adams, Joseph, Jan. 
Adams, William, Oct. 
Adams, Mrs. Mary, Oct. 
Aikev, Lewis, Apr. 

Albert, Jacob, July 

Albert, Benedict, May 
Alsbach, Solomon, Jan. 
Alter, Mrs. Mary, Feb. 
Alter, Abraham, July 
Ambers, Mrs. M., Sept. 
Ammon, Andrew, Mar. 
Ammon, Samuel, Sept. 
Ammon, Beyer, Feb. 
Ammon, Elizabeth, Feb. 
Anderson, James, May 
Anderson, Jere., Jan. 
Anderson Moses, June 
Andrews, George, Jan. 
Angle, Mrs. L. T., Oct. 
Angstadt, Mrs., Apr. 

Angstadt, Gideon, 

Angstadt, Benj., Feb. 
Anthony, Hon. J. B. Jan. 
Arbegast, Eve, Jan. 

Ard, Dr. Joseph B., Feb. 
Armstrong, Mrs. S., Feb. 
Armstrong, Wm., Aug. 
Armstrong, James, Aug. 
Armstrong, Marg't, July 
Arnold, George, May 
Atwood, Henry, Apr. 
Aubel, Mrs. Barb., July 
Aurand, Samuel, Aug. 
Aurand, Mrs. Geo., Aug. 
Aurand, Abram, jJan. 
Aurand, Henry, Mar. 
AnspaGh,Susan'h., Sept. 
Backhouse, Dr. S. T. Dec. 



40 



187476 

1825 

1868150 

1872 i 85 

1862 73 

1848J80 

1875 71 

1828 

1817 

1829 

1861 

1842 

1852 

1862 

1868 

1847 i 
1864 176 
1874|75 
1860 33 
187126 
1853! 
18541 
1863155 
185l| 
1868 90 
1861 
1829 
1854 
1867:75 
18691 
184875 
1836 
1843 82 
1845 

1848 71 
1855 
1844 
1842 
1848 



Date op 
Death. 



60 



Badger, Robert, 
Baker, John, 
Baker, Peter, 
Baker, Mrs. Sarah, 
Baker, Jacob, 
Baker, Mrs. Ann S., 
Baker, John, 
Baker, John, W. D., 
Barber, Robert, 
Barber, Mrs. Mary, 
Barber, Col. Sam'l, 
Barber, Thomas, 
Barber, Mrs. S. A., 
Barber, Rev. D. M., 
Barber, Mrs. A. B., 1 
Barber, Mrs. Eliz., 
Barber, Eleanor, 
Barber, Mrs. Jane, 
Barber, James W., 
Barkdoll, John H., 
Barnes, Charles L., 
Branhart, Mrs. S., 
Barnhart, Rev. W., 
Barrett, Able C, 
Barrett, Mrs. S. H., 
Barton, Esq., S. S., 
Baskins, Hon. J., 
Baum, Mrs. Eliz., 
Baum, Samuel, 
Baum, John M., 
Beaver, Rev. Peter, 
Beaver, W. M., 
Beaver, Mrs. E. G., 
Beatty, Jane, 
Becher, Capt. D. L., 
Bechtel, Peter, 
Bechtel, Samuel, 
Beck, Henry, 
Beck, Isaac L., 



Oct. 16, 



Oct. 25, 
Oct. 11, 
Apr. 9, 
Apr. 7, 
Sept. 20 
Nov. 27, 
Feb. — , 
Mar. 2, 
Apr. 14, 
Dec. 26, 
Oct. 30, 
Dec. 17, 
Apr. 5, 
Aug. 25. 
Feb. 13, 
May 30, 
May 3, 
Jan. 21, 
Feb. 18, 
Apr. 19, 
Sept. 10, 
Jan. 8, 
Sept. 14, 
Sept. 26, 
Sept. 23, 
Oct. 3, 
June 29, 
Aug. 26, 
Nov. 13, 
Oct. 30, 
Mar. 4, 
Mar. 17, 
Feb. 3, 
Apr. 9, 
Jan. 2, 
May 21, 



837 
1821 
J 23 

1853 34 
1855 42 
1862 35 
1868 58 
1874 82 
184191 
1846 
1846 
1856 
1860 56 
1865 66 
187130 
1872,86 

1873 81 

1874 60 
1877182 
1868] 
1862 70 
1854-78 
1862 35 
1849 
1872 
1864 65 
1851 '63 
183961 
1842 1 
1862139 
184967 

1854 22 
186141 
1829 62 
1858 84 
1852 
1870; 
1846 
1856' 



158 



145 



5(>4 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



S6S 



Beck, Adam, 
Beck, Mrs. Susan'h, 
Beckly, sr., Daniel, 
Becker, John, 
Beckly, Benjamin, 
Beeber, Jolm, 
Beisel, Mrs. Susan, 
Beiler, sr., John, 
Bell, Berrvhill, 
Bell, W. G., 
Bell, Mrs. M. R., 
Benner, .John, 
Benner, George, 
Benner, Elizabeth, 
Benner, John B., 
Bennett, Elizabeth, 
Bennett, Charles, 
Berkley, Joseph, 
Bertolette, Jona., 
Betz, Solomon, 
Beyer, Daniel, 
Beyer, Charles, 
Beyer, Dr. Charles, 
Bibighaus,Dr. .Tno., 
Bibighans, Mrs. J., 
Biddle, .John, 
Billington, Thomas, 
Billmyer, Clara, 
Billmj'er, jNIartin, 
Billmyer, Mrs. S., 
Binns, John, 
Bird, Jonathan, 
Bishop, .John, 
Black, .Tames, 
Black, Mrs., Isa'la, 
Black, Hannah, 
Black, Mary, 
Black, Thonias S., 
Black, Mrs. M. B., 
Blackwell, Mrs. 
Blair, .Tane, 
Blvthe, Esq., Cal., 
Boal, Capt. David, 
Boal, Esq., Geo. F., 
Bobst, Michael, 
Bockener, Isaac, 
Bogar, Jacob, 
Bogar, John D., 
Bogar, Hester, 
Boggs, Rose G., 
Boop, Peter, 
Bergstresser, Geo., 
Bossier, .Jolm, 
Boveard, Mrs., 
Bower, Mrs. Sarah, 
Bower, Jacob, 
Bower, William, 
Bower, George, 



Date of 
Death. 



Dec, 21 
Mar. 11 
July 22 
Sept. 18 
May 29 
MaV 11 
Feb. 28, 
Mar. 3 
Nov. 15 
June 27 
July 28 
Mar. 
Nov. 10 
Dec. 29 
Sept, 
Mar. 2 
Aug. 5 
Oct. 
Jan. 
Oct. 23 
Oct. 31 
July 19 
Sept. 13 
Julv 
Mar. 1 
Aug. 29 
Mar. 10 
June 25 
Apr. 3 
Nov. 14 
June 16 
Feb. 13 
Nov. 21 
Mar. 9 
Apr. 25 
Aug. 11 
Am: 18 
Nov. 29 
Feb. 7 
Nov. 23 
Nov. 17 
June 27 
Oct. 11 
Jan. 18 
Mav 
Sept. 28, 
Aug. 15 
Apr. 15 
Aug. If 
Aug. 4 
Aug. 14 
May 3 
.June 4 
Nov. 20, 
Mar. 1 
Sept. 2^ 
Dec. 21 
Aug. 13 



, 1867 91 
, 1870 89 
, 183li 
, 1843 84 
, 1856 
, 1872 
, 1862 
, 1868 
, 1861 
, 1875 
, 1876 
, 1854 
, 1854 
, 1834 
, 1875 
, 1872 
, 1874 
, 1850 
, 1874 
, 1837 
, 1826 
, 1866 
, 1830 
, 1860 
, 1861 
, 1867 
, 1856 
, 1844 
, 1862 
, 1874 
, 1860 
, 1873 64 
, 1854 
, 1837 
, 1847 
, 1858 
, 1862 
, 1870 
, 1872 
, 1849 
, 1861 
, 1849 
, 1824 
, 1856 
, 1841 
, 1828 
, 1826 
, 1862 
, 18631 
, 1872 49 
, 1872 70 
, 1856 72 
, 1859 82 
, 1847,91 
, 1846! 
;, 1847 86 
, 18511 
, 1854 65 



44 



Bowes, John, 
Boyd, .John B., 
Boyer, Mrs. Barb'ra 
Boyer, Mrs. Sarah, 
Bover, Samuel, 
Bradford, E. G., 
Brady, Charlotte, 
Braucher, .Jacob, 
Brauclier, George, 
Brautigam, Daniel, 
Brause, Jonathan, 
Breyman, Christ'n, 
Brice, Thomas, 
Bridge, Mrs. Eliz., 
Bright, Schreyer, 
Brigiit, George, 
Bright, Jacob, 
Bright, Joseph, 
Brobst, Jacob, 
Brooks, Enos, 
Brown, .John, Esq 
Brown, .John, 
Brown, John, 
BroAvn, John, 
Brown, Cin-ist, G., 
Brown, William, 
Brown, Mrs. Susan, 
BroAvn, Cliristian, 
Brown, Matthew, 
Brown, Mrs. Han'h, 
Brown, Lt. Hogan, 
Brown, Abraham, 
Brown, .Jacob, 
Brown, Christian, 
Brown, George, 
Brown, William, 
Brown, Michael, 
Bryson, Robert, 
Bryson, Rev, John, 
Bucher, Maggie, G,, 
Buckner, Isaac, 
Buckner, William, 
Buckner, Amelia, 
Buckner, Sarah, 
Budd, Mrs. Anna, 
Buoy, Edward, 
Burn, Sarah, 
Burr, Henry H., 
Burrell, Joseph, 
Burris, John L. 
Bussler, Mrs., 
Butterfield, Jonas, 
Byler, Samuel, 
Cadwallader, Seth, 
Caldwell John, 
Caldwell, Mary, 
Caldwell, Dan, 
Caldwell, James D., 



Date of 
Death, 



Aug, 1 
Mar, 1 
Jan, 3 
Apr, 10 
May 17 
June 6 
July 7 
May 11 
Mar. 10 
Jan. 12 
May 26 
Oct. 20 
Nov. 22 
Nov. 15 
May 18 
Feb. 13 
Mar. 6 
Mar, 22 
Feb, 23 
July 27 
Dec. 13 
Aug, 7 
Dec, 30 
July 29 
.Julv 15 
Sept, 28 
July 29 
Aug, — 
Jan. 7 
May 10 
Nov. 11 
Dec. 28 
Oct. 28, 
Apr. 4 
Sept. 29 
Mar, 9 
Oct, 30 
Aug, 3 
Mar, 23 
Sept, 28: 

Aug. 18 
May 18 
Aug, 4 
Feb, 20 
Dec, 5 
Nov, 21 
Oct, 15 
Mar, 5 
Fall of 
Oct, 3 
May 28 
Aug, 26 
jMay — 
Aug, — , 
Dec, 16 
Mar, 14 



93 



1832 
1845 
1868 
1872 '68 
187469 
1836 
1848 
1870 '86 
1874'80 
1863'75 
1876|73 
1862 67 
1858 53 
1873 62 
1854 16 
1862 62 
1865 175 
1872 67 
1825173 
1872 66 
183165 
1838 82 
1845 '62 
1846 61 
1850 



1855 59 
1858 30 
I86OI 
1860 67 
1865 62 
1861 1 

1869 81 

1870 71 
1873 80 
1875180 
1875,84 



1876 
1832 
1855 
1869 
1828 
1849 
1858 
1864 
1866 
1874 
1842 
1853 
1827 
1869 
1825, 
1826 
1868 
1863 
1834 
1834 
1836 
1847 



56b 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Date op 
Death. 



Dec. 11, 1868 40 
Apr. — , 18(53 
Nov. 10, 1830 i. 



.June 80, 183 



Caldwell, .TaneM., 
Cilvin, Miss Mary, 
Cameron, Martha, 
Gamei-on, Daniel, 
Cameron, Col. .Jas., .July 21, 18(31 
Cameron, jr., Wm.,'Nov. 29, 1S()1'24 
Campbell, .John, jOct. 27, 1838 
Campbell, Maria, |Jan. — , 18(5 1[ 
Campbell, Rebecca, Jan. 25, 18(il 83 
Campbell, Wm., Sept.—, 186l| 
Campbell, F. C, :Apr. 21, 18(57 
Candor, Harriet, May — , 1836 
Candor, Mrs. Eliz., iDec. 14, 183(5 
Candor, J. Howard, Sept. 23, 1839 
Candor, .Josiah, j June 26, 1840 
Candor, Joseph, 'Apr. 18, 1849 
Candor, John M., jNov. 13, 1849 
Candor, Miss Lydia,! Mar. —^ 1862 
Candor, Franklin, jMar. 12, 1882 
Candor, Elizabeth, JApr. 12, 18(32 
Carson, John B., 'Mar. 25, 1849 
Carothers, William.'Jan. 7, 1861 
Carothers, Annie M. ' Jan. 10, 1861 
Caul, John, : Jan. 9, 1861 

Cawlev, James, -Sept. 25, 1840 
Cawley, Miss Eliz., ! July 11, 1862 
Cawley, Charles, 'May 16, 1871 
Chamberlin, Ann, [Apr. 2, 1832 
Chamberlin, Uriah, Feb. 1, 1853 
Chamberlin, Col. A. Jan. 12, 1856 
Chamberlin, John, Apr. 15, 1858 
Chamberlin, Mrs M. Mar. — , 1859 
Chamberlin, G. A., Apr. 13, 1860 
Chamberlin, Mary, Apr. 3, 1865 
Chamberlin, M. E., July 25, 1866 

Chambers, Robert, . — , 1835 

Chambers, Reb'aE. Mar. 11, 1836 



Chambers, Benj. 
Chambers, Mrs. M., 
Cliambers, Robert, 
Chambers, Benj. 
Chambers, Mrs. M., 
Chapijell, Lucinda, 
Chappell, Mrs. M., 
Chappell, Jason L., 
Chappell, Mearit, 
Charles, Samuel, 
Charlton, Dr. Jas., 
Cherry, Charles, 
Chesney, Jacob G., 
Chestnut, J., 
Chestnut, Rev. D., 
Chestnut, Ann, 
Christ, Jacob, 
Christ, Mrs. Cath., 
Christ, Mrs. Hester, 
Christ, Levi B., 
Christie, Mrs. Mar., 



Dec. 19, 1847 
Aug. 2, 1863 
Oct. 15, 18(34 
Oct. 19, 1872 
Oct. 26, 1875 
Sept. 2, 1849 
Oct. — , 1849 
Aug. 26, 1865 
Oct. — , 1872 
Sept. 23, 1873 
Oct. — , 1831 
Sept. — , 1823 
Mar. 9, 1858 
Feb. — , 1825 

_, 1837 

June 10, 1851 
July 27, 1832 
Feb. 23, 1861 
Aug. 16, ]863 
Oct. 4, 1876 
Oct. 27, 1860 



Clark, Sarah, 
Clark, Sarah, 
Clark, Flavel, 
Clark, .James, 
Clemmens, Mich'l, 
Clingan, Wm. Esq., 
Clingan, Mrs., 
Clingan, Thomas, 



Date op 
Death. 



Aug. 13, 1854 68 
Mav 10, 1857 67 
Mar. 6, 1858 44 
Oct. 22, 1864| 
Apr. 7, 1859|77 
May 24, 1822 
May 7, 1838 85 
:Vpr. 24, 1858 73 



Clingan, jr., Flavel, Apr. 21, 1859 24 



Clingan, George, 
Clingan, Mrs. M., 
Clingan, Flavel R., 
Coburn, Dr. Clias., 
Cole, George, 
Collins, Mrs. Mary, 

Colsher, , 

Comly, Tliomas, 
Conner, David, 
Conner, Elizabeth, 
Conner, John, 
Conrad, George, 
Cook, Adam, 
Cook, Elizabeth, 
Coolc, .James, 
Cook, Andrew, 
Cooper, .Judge Jno. 
Cornelius, William, 
Cornelius, Jesse, 
Cornelius, Mrs. J., 
Cornelius, .James, 
Cornelius, Mrs., 
Cornelius, .John, 
Cornelius, Mrs. F., 
Corneliiis, Mrs. S., 
Cornelius, .James, 
Cornelius, Thomas, 
Corrj^, George, 
Costenbader, Hen., 
Courtney, William, 
Coverly, Maj. J. C, 
Covert, Mrs. Mary, 
Cowden, Esq., Jno., 
Cox, Mrs. Sarah F., 
Craig, Mrs. Anna, 
Crawford, Dr. J. W., 
Cress, Conrad, 
Criswell, Thomas, 
Criswell, Mrs. E., 
Criswell, Mrs. Sar., 
Cronmiller, Martin, 
Crosgrove, Samuel, 
Crosgrove, James, 
Orotzer, Thomas, 
Cummings, John, 
Cummings, sr., ,J., 
Cummings, James, 
Cummings, Alex., 
Dale, Mrs. Eliza, 



45 



Jan. 14, 1860 72 
Dec. 31, 1861 72 
Oct. 17, 1876 82 
Apr. 23, 1858 72 
Mar. 2, 1868 69 
Aug. 2, 1874 1 82 
May 26, 1857:96 
\pr. 13, 1866 '47 
Feb. 8, 1840 
Sept. 26, 1840 
Sept. 3, 1846 
July 5, 1849 
Aug. 21, 18321 
Jan. 4, 1849 1 
Feb. 21, 1873 81 
Sept. 16, 1873 82 
June 21, 1863 79 
About 1814. I 
May 31, 1833 
Aug. 26, 1843 80 
Nov. 19, 1849 
Oct. 1, 1854 
Apr. . 8, 1866 
Sept. 23, 18(37 
Aug. 10, 1868 
Jan. 24, 1874 
Mar. 10, 1874 
Aug. 15, 1856 
Aug. 27, 1853 
Sept. 5, 1854 
May 18, 1856 
Mar. 29, 1858 
Jan. 13, 1837 
Oct. 13, 18(58 
Jan. 26, 1848 
Apr. 17, 1861 
Oct. 24, 1844 
Apr. 26, 1860 
June 4, 1861 
Feb. 10, 186246 
Jan. 26, 1838 76 
Sept. 24, 186188 
Feb. 27, 1876 ;76 
53 



Sept. 14, 1852 
Aug. 27, 1829 
Feb. 16, 1846 
Jan. 19, 1859 72 
Mar. 30, 1862 58 
Apr. 23, 1835 80 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



5(>7 



Dale, Samuel, 
Dale, William, 
Dale, Mary Ellen, 
Dale, Col. James, 
Dale, Miss Agnes, 
Danowsky, Wm. F., 
Davidson, Ann, 
Davis, James K., 
Davis, William, 
Davis, Mrs. Sarah, 
Davis, Miss Ann, 
Dawson, Rev. A., 
Dawson, Mrs. R., 
Deck, Grodfrey, 
Dennius, Mrs. H., 
Deibert, Henry, 
Dentler, Peter, 
Dennis, John, W. B. 
Dennis, Mrs. Mich., 
Dentler, John, 
Dentler, Hon. J. F., 
Dentler, Mrs., 
Deratt, Daniel, 
Deratt, Nancy, 
Derr, George, 
Derr, Frances, 
Derr, Mrs. Fanny, 
Derr, Elizabeth, 
Derr, John H., 
Derr, Lewis, 
Derr, Benjamin, ' 
Derr, Jose^jli Y., 
Derr, John, 
Derr, Mrs. Char., 
Derr, Jacob, 
Derring, Miss Eliz., 
Dersham, Abra. V., 
Dersham, Mrs. H., 
Diettenderfer, F., 
Dififenderfer, Philip 
Dieflenderfer, J., 
Diefifenbach, Mrs., 
Dilcomb, George, 
Dillen, Mrs. R", 
Donaldson, Mr., 
Donaldson, Mrs. A., 
Donarchy, John, 
Donarchy, Benj., 
Donarchy, Mrs.F. S. 
Donnel, Esq., H., 
Dorman, Peter, 
Dorman, Mrs. C, 
Dorough, Sarah, 
.Dorough, James, 
Dougal, Dr. John, 
Doudle, Daniel, 
Dovigal, Mrs. S. A., 
Dreisbach, Martin, 



Date of 
Death. 



Aug, 
Sept. 12 
Mav 7 
Sept. 11 
Jime 23 
Mar. 1 
Julv — 
Mar. 10 
Aug. 11 
Sept. — , 
Apr. 5 
Nov. 4 
Jan. 27 
June 30, 
Jan. 27 
Sept. 9, 
Apr. 21 
Mar. 22 
Mav 18 
Aug. 18 
Jan. 5 
Mar. 6 
Mar. 20 
Nov. 2: 
Feb. i 
Oct. 9 
Feb. 15 
Nov. 17 
Aug. 14 
June 17 
Nov. 11 
July 21 
Feb. 1 
Feb. 8, 
Aug. 2 
Aug. 16 
Nov. 3, 
Nov. 8 
Aug. 17 
Sept. 12, 
May 19 
Fail of 
Dec. 13 
July 15 




< 



1848 

1857 

1861 

1862,81 

1865 

1875 73 

1827 

1847 

1860 

1860 

1861 

1855 168 

186377 



39 



1870 
1848 
1872 
1843 
1876 
1876 
1853 
1860 
1866 
1848 
1850 
1829 
1832 
1842 
1848 
1861 
1862 
1862 
1864 
1869 
1873 
1873 
1859 
1873 
1875 
1825 
1876 
1875 
1819. 
1842 
1867 
1823 
1826 
1841 
1845 
1872 
1826 
1874 
1875 
1832; 
1860 
1830 
1828 
1862 
1831 



80 



Dreisbach, Ellis, 
Dreisbach, Charles, 
Dreisbach, John, 
Dreisbach, Rev. J., 
Dreisbach, Thomas, 
Dreisbach, Mrs. E., 
Duncan, James, 
Dubois, James S., 
Duncan Martha, 
Duncan, David, 
Duncan, Mrs. D., 
Duncan, Thos. F., 
Dundore, George, 
Dunkle, Mrs., 
Dunkle, Conrad, 
Dunkle, John, 
Dunkle, sr., .John, 
Dunlap, Mrs. Mary, 
Dunlap, John, 
Dunn, Josiah, 
Dunn, James, 
Dunn, Mrs. Eliz., 
Dunn, Mrs., 
Dunseif, Hironem's, 
Eartley, Mrs. Maria, 
Eaton, Cyrus, 
Eckert, George, 
Eckert, George B., 
Eckert, Mrs. N. B., 
Egbert, jr., John, 
Eilert, Mrs. Ann, 
Eilert, Christopher, 
Elder, Mrs. Eliza, 
Elliott, John W., 
Elliot, Henrietta G., 
Ellis, Esq., H. D., 
Ellis, William, 
Ely, Issac, 
Ely, Richard Har., 
Engle, Solomon, 
Engie, Samuel, 
Engiehart, Mrs. H., 
Ettman, John, 
Evans, Josei^h, 
Evans, Elizabeth, 
Evans, Williara, 
Evans, Dr. Chas. R., 
Ewing, Joshua, 
Ewing, Agnes, 
Ewing, Mrs., 
Ewing, James, 
Ewing Rev. James, 
Ewing, Elizabeth, 
Eyer, Abraham, 
Ever, Jacob, 
Eyer, Jacob, 
Eyer, jr., Isaac, 
Eyerly, Prof. Jacob, 



Date of 
Death. 



Oct. 29 
Apr. 29 
Feb. 7 
Aug. 19 
May 4 
Oct. 2 
Oct. 12 
June 7 
Feb. 13 
Sept. 6, 
Sept. 8, 
July 27 
Mar. 31 
Sept. 29 
Jan. 26 
Jan. 2 
Feb. 18 
Sept. 8 
Sept. 26 

Oct. U 
June — 
Feb. 18 
Julv 12 
Nov. 13 
Mar. 9 
Jan. 25 
Julv 21 
Mar. 10 

:Vllg. 29 

Apr. 7 
Aug. 7 
June 1 
Jan. 20, 
May 9 
July 21 
Sept. 19 
Apr. 11 
Oct. 15 
Nov. 19 
Nov. 6 
Sept. 19 
Sept. 22 
Apr. 21 
Mar. 26 
Aug. 24 
Sept. 23 
July 22 
Sept. — 
Mar. 8 
Mar. 22 
Sept. 22 
Aiig. 19 
Oct. 30 
Julv 14 
Sept. 19 
July 9 
Aus. — 



1860 

1861 

1869 

1871 

1872 

1875 

1843 

1852 

1847 

1855 

1865 

1867 

1866 

1842 

1845 

1846 

1864 

1837 

1842 

1823 

1849 

1861 

1862 

1830 

1842 

1873 79 

1850 

1868 

1876 

1855 

1874 

1824 

1870 

1857 

1872 

1851 

1868 

1843 

1849 

1852 

1872 

1874 

1827 

1834 

1836 

1841 

1867 

1844 

1851 

1855 

1856 

1861 

1869 

1823 

1827 

1854 

1868 

1864 



161 
21 

178 
,82 
177' 
i73 
;85 
156 
65 
58 



80 



69 



195 
164 



145 



55 

170 
>78 
■72 

64 
160 

40 
160 

45 
169 

22 
55 
63 



28 

:80 

25 

45 
74 
53 
75 



28 
145 
75 



S6S 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Date of 
Death. 



Sept. 25, 1854 36 
June 9, ISfil 26 
Apr. 12, 1830 
Sept. 22, 1827 
Sept. 7, 1826 
Sept. 7, 1826 
— , 1823 
Feb. 9, 1854 
May 16, 1855 
Jan. 27, 1857 
Julv 30, 1824 
Mar. 29, 1875 
May 31, 1874 
Mar. 13, 1846 
Sept. 6, 1853:64 
Jan. 4, 1860 43 
.Jan. 29, 1834]76 
Mar. 11, 184-1 
Aug. 9, 1849 
Mar. 26, 1853 
July 2, 1864 



Farley, Abraham, July 29, 1875 84 
Faries,Fsq., Robert, Nov. 12, 1S64 60 
Fetter, Mrs. Abram, Oct. 21, 1868}78 
Fetter, Abram, May 4, 1876 84 

Fenner, Marv R., Aug. 13, 1865 74 
Fess, David, July 29, 1876 76 

Fessler, Mrs. Mary, Sept. 21, 1854 64 
Fessler, Jacob, ' " "~ ' "" 

Fiedler, Fred. G., 
Fields, Emily, 
Fillman, Jacob, 
Finney, .Jaines, 
Finney, Mrs. Eliz., 
Fisher, Rebecca, 
Fisher, Lieut. Thos. 
Fisher, Esq., A. C, 
Fisher, Rev. A., 
Fleming, .Tames, 
Follmer, Daniel, 
Fleming, Gen. Rob. 
Follmer, Thomas, 
Follmer, Mrs. M., 
Forry, Nathan, shff. 
Forster, Robert, 
Forster, Joseph, 
Forster, John, 
Forster, William, 
Forster, .John, 

Forster, Mary Lou.,|Maf. 19, 1865 
Forster, John V., Mar. 19, 1865 
Forster, William, 
Forster, Mrs. Jane, 
Forster, T. H. B., 
Fowler, Mrs. A., 
Fox, Peter, 
Frain de, Henry, 
Frank, John Pliilip, 
Frederick, Philip, 
Frederick, Matilda, 
Frick, Mrs. Eliz., 
Frick, Dr. Clar. H. 
Frick, Esq., G. A., 
Fries, Rev. Just H. 
— Ji'ries, John, 
Frock, Heni-y, 
Fryer, Jacob, 
Fulmer, Andrew, 
Gable, John, 

Gearhart, John L., Nov. 6, 1860 
Gebhart, Jonathan, Nov. 3, 1838 
Gebhart, George, Dec. 13, 1876 
Geddes, John R., Jan. 7, 1837 
Geddes, Miss Maria, Oct. 1, 1854 
Gemberling,Mrs.E.'Oct. 13, 1861 



Mar. 27, 1865 
Sept. 29, 1868 
Jan. 16, 1861 
Sept. 24, 1860 
Jan. 10, 1856 
Jan. 4, 1864 
Sept. 25, 1856 
Feb. 19, 1852 
Sept. 6, 1866 
Sept. 2, 1859 
.Tan. 21, 1861 
June 10, 1872 
Oct. 9, 1839 
May 1, 1869 
Nov. 25, 1861 
Feb. 13, 1864 
Apr. 5, 1862 
Sept. 11, 1873 



43 



72 



63 



Date of 
Death. 



Gember]ing,Phi]ip,iApr. 26, 1870,75 
George, Rev. John, |Dec. 13, 1867160 
George, Sarah Ann, iFeb. 18, 1864;39 
German, Jacob, 'Jan. 6, 1848 60 



Gessner, Francis J., Sept. 9, 1855 36 

Gessner, Mrs. F. J., Sept. 9, 1855 35 

Getz, Mrs. Barbara, Jan. 13, 1864 66 

Geyer, Adam, Dec. 13, 1832 

Gibbons, Hugh, Apr. 7, 1871 

Gibson, Henrv, Aug. 22, 1871 

Gilfillan, Dr. Ed., Apr. 12, 1833 

Ginter, Mrs. Ann, Sept. 24, 1863 

Ginter, Charles, Dec. 17, 1836 

Glass, Joseph, July 25, 1870 

Glass, Mrs. Mary A., Apr. 30, 1870 

Glover, John, Mar. — , 1825 

Glover, Esq., Wm., Nov. 8, 1854 

Glover, Esq., John, Mav, 17, 1862 

Goddard, Abner S., Sept. 11, 1852 

Goodlander, J. V., Aug. 22, 1863 

Gordon, Mrs. Har., Julv 17, 1846 

Gordon, Mary, Sept. 20, 1855 

Gottshall, David, July 14, 1849 

Graham, Alex. Aug, 23, 18.39 

Graham, T. W., .Tuly 22, 1859 

Graham, Mrs. M.M., Mar. 18, 1863 

Graham, Thomas, Aug. 20, 1864 

Graham, Rosetta, Aug. 4, 1872 

Graham, H. Spyker, Aug. 28, 1868 

Grant, Deborah, Feb. 22, 1847 

Gray, John, Mar. 23, 1849 

Gray, Robert, Oct. 17, 1854 

Gregg, Mrs. C. H., Jan. 14, 1865 

Gregg, Andrew, Mav 14, 1869 

Green, Dr. Geo.,W., Jan. 12, 1848 

Green, Robert B., Dec. 29, 1849 

Green, Abbot, Mar. 23, 1851 

Green, Mrs. Marg., Sept. 6, 1856 

Green, Margaret, May 7, 1858 

Green, Thomas, Dec. 3, 1865 

Green, Mrs. Eliz., June 6, 1867 

Green, Mrs. J. H., Apr. 30, 1870 

Greenough, Esq.,E. Dec. 25, 1847 

Grier, Thomas, . Feb. 2, 1829 

Grier, Joseph F., Feb. 10, 1858 

Grier, Thomas G., Oct. 6, 1864 

Grier, Maria Jane, Dec. 7, 1865 

Grier, Mrs. Marg., June 1, 1870 

Groff, Abraham., Oct. 8, 1873 

Grove, Mrs, Cath., Feb. 29, 1848 

Gross, Henry, Aug. 15, 1842 

Grove, Mrs. "Nancy, June 12, 1853 

Grove, Michael, Sept. — , 1827 

Grove, David, May 30, 1866 

Grove, Eliza, Nov. 3, 1869 

Grove Samuel, Sept. 1, 1873 

Gudykunst, Chas.. Jan. 13, 1865 

Gun'drum, George, Apr. 29, 1853 

Gundy, Eliza, May 15, 1829 

Gundy, Christain, Sept. 30, 1836 

Gundy, George, Nov. 6, 1843 

Gundv, William S., Mar. 13. 1846 



78 
63 
64 
60 

77 
61 

70 
80 
44 
50 
52 

45 

53 

77 
42 

59 

84 
70 
28 
78 

28 
68 
77 
45 
52 
46 
61 

31 

56 
24 
33 
62 
63 
79 
80 
32 

54 

78 
75 
66 
45 



Vp 



A 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



5(^9 



Date of h 
Death. 2 



Gundy, John, Oct. 

Gutelius, Fred., May 
Gutelius, Esq., I., Sept. 
Gutelius, Rev. S., July 
Gutelius, Andrew, Sept. 
Guyer, Adam, July 

Guyer, Peter, Sept. 

Guyer, Rev. John, Dec. 
Guj'-er, Israel, Mar. 

Guyer .John, Mar. 

Haak, .John, Mar. 

Hackenberg, Peter, Dec. 
Hafer, Mrs. Eliz., Jan. 
Hafer, Mrs. Eliz., AjDr. 
Hafer, .Jacob, Oct. 

Hagenbucli, Peter, Feb. 
Halfpenny, Mrs. C, June 
Hall, Esq., Charles, Mar. 
Hall, Ebenezer. Ajar. 
Hall, Rev. Wni. M., Aug. 
Hall, John, jOct. 

Hammond, Joseph, 

Hammond, Marg., Oct. 
Hammond, Oscar, Mar. 
Hann, Jacob, Mar. 

Hann, .Jared, Aug. 

Hannah, John, Aug. 

Hai-baugh, Mrs. L., Sept. 
Harkens, John, July 

Harbaugh, Rev. H., Dec. 
Harimer, Mrs. M., Dec. 
Harmon, Susan, Oct. 

Harmony, Benj., : 

Harris, Sally, Dec. 

Harris, Mrs." Mary, Dec. 
Harris, Mrs. Mary, Oct. 
Harris, Caroline D., Sept. 
Harris James, J^dy 

Harris, Miss M., Feb. 
Harrison, .James,, July 
Harrison, Hon. Jas., Apr. 
Hartman, George, July 
Hassenplug, J. H. ISTov. 

Hassenplug, , Apr. 

Hassenplug, Wm., Feb. 
Hauck, George, Mar. 

Haupt, jr., Sam'l, Jan. 
Haupt, Esq., Sam'l, Feb. 
Hans, .JohUj July 

Hans, Susannah, July 
Haus, Jacob, Oct. 

Hawn, Mrs. Eliz., Sept. 
Hawn, Daniel, Dec. 

Hawn, Nancy Jane, Jan. 
Hayes, Mrs. Mary, Dec. 
Hayes, Mrs. Emily, Ajjr. 
Hayes, Sarah, JAug. 

Hayes, John, I Mar. 



51 



1864 66 
1839:72 
1863,60 
1866:72 
1874166 
1835 
1843] 84 
1867 60 
1875 54 
1875 57 
1828 
1847 75 
1873 80 
1875 76 
1875 79 
1875 60 
1877 54 
1825 
1847 
1849 
1856 
1823 
1835 
1857 35 
1841 ! 
1864^51 
1832 83 
1847 23 
1870 50 
1867 
1872 
1875 
1833 
1827 
1842 
1863 
1864 
1868 
1873 
1850 
1866 
1861 
1829 
1859 
1876 
1864 
1864 
1869 
1849 
1852 
1855 
1865 

1865 84 
1859 33 
1827 
1830 
1845 
1850 



67 



Hayes, R. G. H., 
Hayes, Esq., David, 
Heckel, Mrs. Mary, 
Heckel, Mrs. Han'h, 
Heckendorn, D., 
Heinbach, George, 
Heinly, .John, 
Heiser, Catherine, 
Heiser, Frederick, 
Heitzman, Jacob, 
Hendrick, Andrew, 
Henderson, Sam'l, 
Henning, John, 
Hepburn, Esq., S., 
Herbst, Ilenry, 
Herbst, Henry, 
Herbst, Mrs. Cath., 
Herbst, Mrs. M. M., 
Herbst, .Josiah, 
Herbst, Esq., D., 
Herr, David, 
Hertz, .John, 
Hess, Henry, 
Hess, jr., Ilenry, 
Hess, Mrs. Eliz"., 
Hess, Mrs. L. C, 
Heverling, John, 
Hicks, Cliristian, 
Hicks, Mrs. C, 
Hickok, John H., 
Hickok, Mrs. M. L., 
Higgins, Chas. W., 
High, .John, 
High, Elizabeth M., 
Hilands, Robert, 
Hilbourn, James, 
Himmelreich, P., 
Hinnnelreich, Dan., 
Himmelreich, j r. , P. 
Himmelreich, D., 
Hixson, Mrs. Jane, 
Hoffman, Mrs. L., 
Hoffman, Mrs. C, 
Hoffman, Mrs. C, 
Hogendobler, Jos., 
Hood, Jane, 
Hood, -Julia, 
Hood, Wilson H., 
Hood, Catherine, 
Hoover, George, 
Horning, Mrs. Ann, 
Horlacher, Daniel, 
Houghton, Mrs. S., 
Houghton, M. A., 
Houghton, John, 
Houghton, .Jas. M., 
Housel, William, 
Housel, Mrs. Wm., 



Date of 
Death. 



May 2 
.June 15 
Sept. 15 
Dec. 13 
Apr. 26 
Oct. 23 
Feb. 27 
Dec. 18 
Mar. 27 
Sept. 7, 
Feb. 15 
Sept. 29, 
.June 18 
Oct. 16 
Aug. 15 
Apr. 22 
Sept. 24, 
Aug. 3 
Nov. 27 
Feb. 16 
Feb. — 
June 16 
Apr. 7 
Mar. 9 
May, 8 
Apr. 25 
Feb. 15 
Dec. 22 
Jan. 27 
.Jan. 14 
Sept. 4 
Jan. 2 
Sept. 20, 
Jan. 29 

Mar. 15 
Nov. 2 
Jan. — 
Sept. 2 
June 12 
Feb. 21 
Nov. 17 
Apr. 20 
July 28 
July 6 
Feb. 26 
Mar. 11 
May 26 
June 9, 
July 21 
Mar. 10, 
July 24 
Jan. 21 
Sept. 1 
Oct. 25 
Apr. 26 
Aug. 9 
July 7 



59 
!49 

87 
41 
'59 

'75 



1854 , 
1858 - 
1864 
1871 

1864 . 
1860 , 
1845 ' 
1844 172 
1845 73 
1861 
1868 80 
18751 
1853 

1865 1 
1829 
1848 I 



1863 
1866 
1870 
1875 
1872 
1872 
1858 
1860 
1864 
1876 
1869 
1853 
1863 
1841 
1868 
1862 
1855 
1860 
1824 
1851 
1828 
1830 
1866 
1873 
1876 
1872 
1875 
1876 
1864 
1826 
1839 
1849 
1867 
1869 
1842 
1873 
1847 
1853 
1863 
1873 
1829 
1835 



84 

84 
7 
82 
41 
94 
51 
60 
63 
46 
62 
23 
67 
49 
69 

84 



570 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Housel, William L., 
Housel, Jacob, 
Housel, Capt. Win., 
Housel, Joshua, 
Housel, Jacob, 
Housel, Mrs. Mary, 
Housel, Wni. Esq., 
Housel, Mrs. Mary, 
Howard, Elizabeth, 
Howard, Thomas, 
Howard, Mrs. E., 
Howard Thomas, 
Howard, David, 
Howard, Laird, 
Hoy, John, 
Hubler, .John, 
Hubler, Mrs. John, 
Hubler, Henry, 
Huft; Mrs. Marg., 
Humes, Samuel, 
Hummel, Mrs. Chr. 
Hummel, .John, 
Hummel, Capt. J., 
Hummel, Daniel, 
Hunsicker, Cath., 
Hunter, Montg. 
Hunter, Barbara H. 
Huntingdon, John, 
Hursh, Henry, 
Hursh, Mrs. 
Hursh, George, 
Hursh, Samuel, 
Huston, Hon. Chas., 
Hutcheson, Mrs. P., 
Hutcheson, John, 
Hutcheson, James, 
Hutchinson, M. A., 
Iddings, Henry, 
Iddings, Samuel, 
Iddings, Isaac, 
Iddings, Elizabeth, 
Iddings, Abigail, 
Iddings, Mrs. Isab., 
Iddings, Thomas, 
Iddings, Lewis, 
Iddings, Mrs. Mary, 
Iddings, Sarah Em. 
Ingram, John S., 
Ireland, John W., 
Irvine, Mrs. Nancy, 
Irvine, Susan, 
Irvin, Sarah Harris, 
Irwm, Mrs. Nancy, 
James, Mrs. Marg't, 
Jenks, Mrs. A., 
Jodon, Casper, 
Jodon, Joseph, 
Johnson, Jacob, 



Date of 
Death. 



Aug. 3 
July 26 
Juiie 7 
Sept. 17 
Aug. 4 
Julv 30 
Apr. 21 
Dec. 14 
IMar. 30 
Jan. 15 
May 21 
July 17 
Nov. 15 
Mar. 19 
Aug. 27 
Mar. 14 
Mar. 27 
July 3 
Sept. 22, 
Mar. 28 
Aug. 
July 11 
Dec. 17 
Sept. 7 
July 5 
Aug. 18 
Apr. 7 
Feb. 8, 
Aug. 15 
Jan. 27 
May 2 
Dec. 14 
Nov. 10 
June 10 
Jan. 22 
Oct. 13 
Oct 



May 16 
Mar. 8 
Aug. 24 
Nov. 7 
Mar, 
Jan. 4 
Apr. 22 
Oct. 14 
Jan. 25 
July 6 
Mar. 1 
Jan. 23 

Aug, 6 
July 31 
Feb. 5 
June 3 



19 



80 



65 



, 1849 
, 1850 
, 1850 

, 1852 
, 1859 1 60 
, 1860 66 
, 1867 77 
, 1868 '82 
, 1829 
, 1842 
, 1842 
, 1859 
, 1859 
, 1870 
, 1853:86 
, 1845182 
, 1845 '80 
, 1874173 
, 1832 
, 1859 
, 1847 
, 1853 72 
, 1860 80 
, 1861 176 
, 1872.80 
, 1860 46 
, 1862169 
, 1873*65 
, 1829 
, 1848 
, 1873 
, 1875 70 
, 1849 
, 1825 
, 1828 
, 1860 '43 
1, 1868 
, 1820 
, 1820 
, 1823 
, 1823 
, 1828 
, 1838 
, 1848 73 
, 1857:37 
, 1861 40 
, 1862 19 
, 1848! 
, 1862 19 
, 18301 
, 18341 
, 1857 96 
, 1830 
, 1823 
, 1859 
, 1826 
, 1863 j74 
, 18351 



77 



Johnson, Abel, 
•Johnson, Mrs. S. J., 
.Jones, Thomas, 
.Jones, Mrs. Eliz., 
Jones, Mary A., 
Jordan, Mrs. M. H., 
.Joyce, Isabel, 
.Joyce, Dr. William, 
Ivaufman, Peter, 
Kaufman, John, 
Kaufman, David, 
Kaufman, Mrs. L., 
Kaufman, Mrs. D., 
Kaufman, Daniel, 
Kaufman, J as. B., 
Kaufman, Isaac, 
Kaufman, Mrs.H. B. 
Kay, .James, 
Keeler, .Jacob, 
Keeler, Mrs. Barb., 
Keiser, John, 
Keiser, Jacob, 
Kelly, William, 
Kelly, Mrs. S., 
Kelly, James W., 
Kelly, Esq., Col. J., 
Kelly, .James S., 
Kelly, .Joseph, 
Kelly, Robert H., 
Kelly, Peter M., 
Ivelly, .James M., 
Kelly, Rev. Joshua, 
Ivelly, Ellen, 
Kelly, Robert, 
Kelly, Andrew, 
Kellv, Mrs. H., 
Kelly, David H., 
Kennedy, Mrs. N., 
Kennedy, Andrew, 
Kerr, Hamlet A., 
Kessler, Catherine, 
Kessler, Esq., W., 
Jvetchitm, Mrs. M., 
Ivetner, Catherine, 
Kiehl, George W., 
Kieffer, Miss Sallie, 
Kietfer, Henry, 
Kimbell, John, 
Kimple, Adam, 
Ivimple, .John, 
Ivimple, ]\'Iiss Sarah, 
King, sr., James, 
King, Mrs. Marg. 
Kingan, Sarah, 
Kinkead, .Joseph, 
Kinkead, Eug. W., 
Ivirkpatrick,Rey.D. 
Kleckner, Solomon, 



Date of 
Death. 



Nov. 19, 
Apr. 14 
Oct. 15 
June 15 
May 11 
Feb. 3 
July 27 
Apr. 18 
Dec. 10 
Nov. .30, 
Sept. 27 
Dec. 24 
May, 1 
Jaii. 7 
Julv 6 
July 18 
May 31 
Apr. 22 
Mar. 8 
Dec. 13 
Nov. 23 
Feb, 12 
Jan. 27 
Jan. 2 
Dec. 26 
Feb. 18 
May 14 
Mar. 2 
Nov. 26 
Aug. 19 
Mar. 27 
Apr. 10 
Jime 16 
Apr. 12 
Sept. 24 
Feb. 20 
Feb. 11 
Feb. 24 
Aug. 24 
Sept. 3 
Sept. 1 
Feb. 21 
July 13 
July 13 
July 3, 
June 11 
Aug. 4 
May 19 
Dec. 17 
Mar. 12 
Jan. 11 
Dec. 15 
Apr. 5 
July 2 
Dec. 17 

.Jan. 5 
Aug. 18 



,83 
I 86 



1849 
1862 29 
1833 i 
1847,84 
18(53 

1857 62 
1850 
1851 
1845 
1849 
1863 

1859 73 
1861125 
1866 165 
1866180 
187160 

1872 69 
1856 76 
1870 90 

1869 84 
1850 
1867 60 
1830 
1831 
1831 
18.32 88 
1854 39 

1860 67 
1860 

1861 27 

1862 23 
1862 40 
1862 34 
1865 77 

1867 84 

1868 77 

1875 72 
1865 57 

1870 75 
1849 
1827 
1861 80 
1870 81 
1826 54 

1858 53 

1873 55 

1874 66 
187() 74 
1831 

1856 76 

1876 73 
1870 94 
1874 80 

1857 90 
1845 
1846 
18(;9 74 
1837 72 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



57^ 



Kleckner, John, 
Kleckner, William, 
Kleckner, George, 
Kleckner, Isaac, 
Kline, Jacob, 
Kleckner, Eliz., 
Kleckner, Miss M., 
Kline, Charles, 
Kline, John H., 
Kling, Jeremiah, 
Kling, Jolm, 
Kling, Jolm, 
Klingaman, Peter, 
Knarr Anna Mary, 
Knittle, Mrs., 
Knight, Mrs. Rach., 
Kohler, Anna, 
Koser, Jonatlian, 
Koser, Joim, 
Kratzer, Daniel, 
Kreamer, Mrs.Abr., 
Kreamer, Abraliam, 
Krenier, Hon. Geo., 
Kreamer, Micliael, 
Kreider, Hon. Jac, 
Kreitzer, Fred., 
Lafey, ISIargaret, 
Lafey, Isaac, 
Lairfi, Mattliew, 
Laird, Rev. Matt. 
Laird, Mrs, Matt. 
Laird, .lane, 
Laird, Mrs. Maria, 
Laird, Col. S. H., 
Laird, Mrs. Jane, 
Laird, Matthew, 
Lantz, Samuel, 
Lashells, ,Tolm, 
Lashells, Mrs. Geo., 
Lasliells, George R., 
Lashells, Mrs. Mart. 
Lashells, Marg, C, 
Lashells, George, 
Lashells, jr., John, 
Lasliells, Ida, 
Lashells, Elean. C, 
Love, William, 
Love, Mrs. Eliz., 
Lawrence, George, 
Lawson, Josepli, 
Lawshe, sr., John, 
Lawshe, jr., John, 
Lawson, Mrs. Nan., 
Lebkicker, Mich., 
Lebkicker, Pliilip, 
Lebkicker, John, 
Lee, Catherine, 
Lehman, Mrs. Han. 



Date of 
Death. 



Aug. 23, 
.Tan. 5, 
May 3, 
May 14, 
Nov. 15, 
Julv 19, 
Aug. 9, 
Mar. 22, 
Mar. 28, 
Jan. 20, 
Jan. 22, 
Julv 17, 
Apr. 27, 
Mar. 1, 
Sept. 12, 
Oct. 17, 
June 7, 
Mav 12, 
Oct". 17, 
Apr. 4, 
Dec. 13, 
Mar. 2, 
Sept. 10, 
Aug. 23, 
May 13, 
Feb. 4, 
Apr. 22, 
Mar. 1, 
Oct. — , 
May 4, 
Mai-. 1, 
Mav 29, 
Julv 7, 
Mar. 14, 
Apr. 4, 
Oct. 29, 
July 30, 
Feb. 7, 
July 7, 
Apr. 16, 
Oct. 12, 

May 29' 
Sept. 14, 
Mar. 15, 
Dec. 2, 



Dec. 30, 
Feb. 24, 
Feb. 8, 
Sept. 14, 
Apr. 19, 
Jan. 28, 
Sept. 19, 
Mar. 18, 
Mar. — , 
Nov. 15, 



79 



1839 

1861 

1874 

1877 

1852 

1876 

1829 

1860 

1868 

1861 

1863 

1872 

1848 

1875 

1860 

1875 

1868 

1864 

1873 

1869 

1842 

1847 

1854 

1855 56 

1852 77 

1868! 

1855:64 

186070 

1821 

1834 

1837 

18491 

1862 71 
1870 66 

1863 89 
1867 
1850 
1832 
1834 
1835 
1837 
1845 
1844 
1845 
1849 
1850 
1834 
1842 
1863 
1843 
1832 
1845 
1867 
1848 
1854 
1870 
1853 
1875 74 



84 



74 



Lee, James, 
Leiby, Christena, 
Leiby, Jacob, 
Leiby, George, 
Leiby, John, 
Leinbach, Rev. T., 
Leisenring, John, 
Leiser, Jacob, 
Leonard, Peter, 
Lepley, Jacob, 
Lepley, George, 
Levan, Mrs. Sophia, 
Levy, Esq., Daniel, 
Lewis, Mrs. Mary, 
Lewis, John, 
Lewis, Tliomas R., 
Lincoln, John, 
Linn, William, 
Linn, Mrs. Ann, 
Linn, Franklin F., 
Linn, John, 
Linn, David, 
Linn, Mrs. Marg'j^, 
Linn, Mrs. Marg't I. 
Linn, Esq., Jas. F., 
Locker, John, 
Long, Jonathan, 
Long, .Tacob, 
Long, Mrs., 
Long, Ephriam, 
Long, Mrs. Mary, 
Longbay, Caroline, 
Longmore, Rev. D., 
Lotz, Mrs. Ann, 
Lotz, Henry, 
Lotz, Dr. Joseph R., 
Ludwig, Dr. W. H., 
Ludwig, Daniel, 
Ludwig, Sam'l W., 
Luker, John, 
Lyndall, Henry, 
Lyndall, Steph. F., 
McAlarnev, John, 
McBeth, Eliz. A., 
McBeth, Andrew, 
McBeth, John A. H. 
McCall, John, 
McCall, jr., John, 
McCarty, William, 
MoClanachan, And. 
McClanachan, Mrs., 
McClearv, John, 
McClearv, Dr.W., 
McClellan, Ruth, 
McClellan, Sam'l, 
McClellan, Mrs. M., 
McClellan, Marg., 
McClure, Jona., 



Date op 
Death. 



May — , 
July — , 
May 21, 
Aug. 9, 
Oct. 21, 
Mar. 31, 
Jan. 24, 
May 28, 
Jan. — , 
Jan. 17, 
Jan. 23, 
Aug. — , 
May 12, 
Aug. 18, 
May 20, 
Aug. 17, 
Aug. 19, 
Oct. 26, 
Sept. 4, 
Nov. 27, 
Sept. 28, 
July 26, 
Nov. 19, 
-Tune 2, 
Oct. 8, 
May 5, 
July 8, 
Oct. 31, 
July 13, 
Jan. 13, 
.Tan. 27, 
June 30, 
Sept. 12, 
Aug. 8, 
Apr. 6, 
Jan. 18, 
Nov. 28, 
Aug. 17, 
Oct. 2, 
.Tan. 2, 
Nov. 26, 
May 12, 
May 16, 
Dec. 20, 
Julv 3, 
Octr 12, 
May 28, 
Nov. 24, 
Apr. 8, 
Mar. 19, 
Jan. 30, 
June 21, 
Dec. 4, 

Feb. 7' 
Mar. 29, 
Jan. 7, 

Nov. 10, 



1853 

1852 ■ 

1856 i 

1872' 

1872- 

18641 

1859' 

1862 i 
1862 
18481 
18741 
1847 
1844 ■ 
1846' 
18691 
1872' 
1862: 
1834 
1841: 
1846 
1847 
1848' 
1865 \ 

1868 ( 

1869 I 
I860: 
1824 : 
1828 
1847 
1856' 
1863 
1862 
1855 
1824 
1845' 
1875' 
1848' 
1855 
I860. 
1850 
I860' 
1856 ■ 
18761 
1850 
1854' 
1854 

1863 60 
186430 
1861 75 
1836 
1846 
1851 
1867 
1820 
1854 
1858:87 
186361 
1825 1 



177 
;80 
;65 
67 
62 
175 
;83 

;66 
63 

77 
78 
'91 

77 
iSO 



91 

;71 

.85 
;64 

67 
1 76 

24 



41 



,48 
.76 
;40 

I 50 

I 

146 
43 
65 

I 
:77 

38 



65 



78 



572 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Date of 
Death. 



McClure, Richard, >Iar. 26, 
McClare, Roan, Oct. 18, 
McClure, Mrs. H., 'Aug. 20, 
McClure, .James, Avig. 30, 
McClure, .Tane, July 6, 

McClure, Richard, Aug. 7, 
McClure, Alex., Sept. 25, 
McClure, Nancy ]Sr.,ISept. 24, 
McClure, Mrs. M., !Oct. 24, 
McClure, Hannah, Oct. 21, 
McClure, William, jNov. 20, 
McClure, Miss .Jane, Dec. 21, 
McClure, Miss .Jane, July 17, 
McClure, Robt. M.,'Jan. 2, 

McCool, Esq., Jos., — , 

McCorley, Esq., R., Dec. 11, 
McCorlev, Esq., J., Apr. 15, 
McCorm'ick, W. S., Dec. 7, 
McCoy, William, Dec. 1, 
McCoy, Mrs. Eliz., Nov. 11, 
McCreight, James, June 80, 
McCreight, Mary D. Sept. 22, 
McDowel, George, May 26, 
McEwing, Alex., Nov. 26, 
McFadden, John, Feb. 9, 
McFadden, Mrs. C.,'Oct. 15, 
McFadden, Mrs. N., Mar. 2, 
McFadden, Col. J., June 18, 
McFadden, J. A., July 27, 
McGrady, Alex., 
McGrady, Alex., 
McG-rady, William, 
McGrady, Mrs. E., 
McGregor, Charles, 
McGuigan, Col. R., 
McGuire, Rachel, 
McGuire, Mrs., 
McGuire, Thomas, 
McGuire, John, 
McKean, Hon. S., 
Mclvinley, Cath., 
McKinney, Jacob, 
Mclvinty," John, 
McLaugiilin, Wm., 
McLaughlin, Dr. R. 
McLaughlin, Wm., 
McLaughlin, Jas., 
McLaughlin, Marg., 
McLaughlin, .Jane, 
McLaughlin, Mrs. E 
McLaughlin, Hugh, 
McMahon, Samuel, 
McNeil Dr. C. J., 
Mabus, Joseph, 
Machamer, Daniel, 
Mackey, Mrs. T. S., 
Mackey, sr., Thos., 
Mackey, jr., Thos., 



June 3 
Mar. 2, 
Aug. 26, 
Aug. 22, 

Mar. — , 
Dec. 14, 
June 23, 
Oct. 17, 
Feb. 5, 
Feb. 24, 
Mar. 26, 
Jan. 12, 
Mar. — , 
Dec. 25, 
Apr. 19, 
July 9, 
Apr. 16, 
Feb. 9, 
June 11, 
Aug. — , 
Feb. 18, 
Aug. 3, 
May 1, 
Aug. 4, 
IFeb. 14, 



1833 
1S33 

1838 

1840 

18491 

1850 

18531 

1854,73 

18551 

1859 61 

1859 36 

1876 1 88 

1875 [55 

1876,62 

1844 

1869,86 

187282 

1868 29 

1846 j 

1869:76 

1862 

1865 22 
1864145 
1850,94 
1835 
1845! 
1848 90 
1851 1 
1855 31 
1830 
1812 
1836 
1861 

1866 52 
1850 



96 



1834 

1844 

1845 

1852 

1840 

18(52 

1861 

1856 

1831 

1832 

1834 

1845 

1848 

1862 57 

1865 59 

1871 



Date of 
Death. 



1854 
1864 
1876 
1856 
1828 
1849 
1860 



Maclay, David, June — , 

Maclay, Ann, jJuly 6, 

Maclay, Mrs. Ann, iMay ,12, 
Maclay, Esq., John,' June 25, 
Macpherson, .John, |Aug. 2, 
Macpherson,Mrs. J. Sept. 6, 
Madden, Esq., Jas.,|Nov. 19, 
Mader, George, Apr. 17, 

Magee, Levina, | — , 

Magee, James, 
Magee, Levina, 
Magee, Mrs. And'w, 
Magee, .James, 
Magee, Joseph, 
Magee, Andrew, 
Magee, John T., 
Magee, Esq., Jas., 
Magee, Mrs. Eliz., 
Magee, Mrs. Susan, 
Magee, Mrs. Susan, 
Magee, Eleanor S., 
Maize, John, 
Maize, Mrs. T^ydia, 
Manning, Henry, 
Markle, Gideon, 
Marr, David, 
Marr. Rev. P. B., 
Marsh, Fred. C, 
Marshall, .James, 
Marshall, Judge J., 
Martin, Hugh, 
Martin, Esq., J. M., 
Martin, Esq., .J., 
Mason, Maria D., 
Mason, Henry, 
Mathers, Mary, 
Mathers, Mrs. Ann, 
Mathers, Mrs. El'n, 
Mathers, Peter, 
Mathers, Mrs., 
Mathers, James, 
Mauck, .Jacob, 
Mans, Esq., Chas., 
Maus, Emily, 
Maus, Lewis, 
Maxwell, Mrs. S., 
Maxwell, Esq., H., 
Maxwell, Capt. J. G. 
Meixell, George, 
Meixell, Joseph, 
Mensch, Rev. Nich., 
Mensch, Mrs. Maria, 
Mensch, Miss Sarah, 
Mensch, Mrs. S. J., 
Mensch, Rev. A. B., 
Merrill, Mrs. M., 
Merrill, Sarah, 
Merrill, Esq., Jas., 



Dec. 6, 
Aug. 16, 
May 4, 
Sept. 29, 
Sept. 23, 
Oct. 28, 
Mar. 17, 
Aug. 25, 
Feb. 17, 
Jan. 17, 
July 9, 
Oct. 13, 
Mav 7, 
Aug. 28, 
Mar. — , 
Feb. 2, 
Jan. 27, 
Jan. 25, 
May 14, 
June 28, 
June 22, 
Apr. 17, 
Apr. 8, 
Sept. 15, 
July 4, 
Aug. 20, 
Jan. 8, 
Apr. 23, 
Sept. 4, 
May 25, 
Aug. 4, 
Aug. 5, 
Mav 8, 
May 14, 
Aug. 22, 
June 10, 
Nov. 1, 
July 19, 
July 29, 
Feb. 19, 
Oct. 14, 
Mar. 12, 
Mar. 23, 
Apr. 18, 
May 19, 
June 3, 
Sept. 17, 
Oct. 29, 



1818 

1835 

1851 

1855 

1827 

1869 88 

185567 

1875 71 
1822 
1823 
18261 
1827 1 
1851' 
1851 55 
1853 
1863 37 
1866 1 
1873,70 
1875:82 
187572 
1876|70 
18.39i 
186143 
1863! 
1851j 
1864149 
187466 
1858 39 
1835 52 
1873 
1827 — ■ 
1832 
1858 49 
1860 20 
1874:65 
1845 
1854 80 
1868,55 
1845 
1860:78 
1874169 
1869 76 
1830 
1829 
1854 84 
1837 
1860 82 
1867 i33 
1868;82 
18671 
18.54:74 
18()3] 
1876,64 

1876 63 



1876 
1825 
1831 
1841 



30 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



573 




Merrill, Esq., Chas., 
Merrill, Mrs. S. B., 
Mertz, Catlierine, 
Mertz,' Jacob, 
Mertz, Mrs. Eliz., 
Mertz, Mrs. Nancy, 
Mervine, Mrs. M., 
Metzgar, Marg. C, 
Metzgar, Mrs. Eliz., 
Metzgar, Rebecca, 
Metzgar, Mrs. CM., 
Middleswarth, Ner, 
Miller, Samuel, 
Mitchell, George, 
Miller, Valentine, 
Miller, Mrs. Sarah, 
Miller, Mrs. Isab'a, 
Miller, John F., 
Miller, George, 
Miller, Hugh, 
Miller, George, 
Miller, Jeremiah, 
Miller, Mrs. J. H., 
Miller, Mrs. Sarah, 
Miller, Mrs. Mary, 
Miller, John, 
Miller, John F., 
Miller, Mrs. K. V., 
Miller, Isaac, 
Miller, Joseph, 
Miller, Margaret, 
Miller, Mrs. S. H., 
Mitclaell, John, 
Millliouse, .Jacob, 
Millliouse, Jno. N., 
Millhouse, Jul'a W. 
Millhouse, Mrs. R., 
Mitchell, Nathan, 
Motz, John, 
Moll, Mrs. 
Montague, Thomas, 
Montelius, Peter, 
Montgomery, Eliz., 
Montgomery, John, 
Montgomery, Thos. 
Montgomery, D., 
Montgomery, Mary, 
Montgomery, Jas., 
Mook, John, 
Mook, David, 
Moon, jr., John, 
Moore, John, 
Moore, John, 
Moore, James, 
Moore, Mrs. Marv, 
Moore, Mrs. M. A., 
Moore, Edward W., 
Moore, Jane W,, 



Dec. 25, 
Aug. 4, 
Sept. 2, 
Apr. 5, 
Mar. 8, 
June 8, 
Mar. 28, 
Jan. 28, 
Jan. 27, 
Jan. 24, 
May 13, 
June 2, 
Mar. 1, 
Sept. 22, 
Oct. 3, 
Apr. 17, 
Apr. 20, 
Aug. 2, 
Oct. 9, 
May 28, 
Jan. 23, 
Dec. — , 
Mar. 28, 
May 31, 

Dec. 14' 

July 25. 
Feb. 22, 
Feb. — , 
Dec. 1, 
May 28, 
July 24, 
May 3, 
Apr. 22, 
Apr. 14, 

Apr. 8, 
Dec. 3, 
Nov. 22, 
Oct. 6, 
Oct. 24, 
July 2, 
Mar. 23, 
Apr. 29, 

Nov. 23,' 
Nov. 17, 
Mar. 9, 
May 16, 
Apr. — , 
Mar. 11, 
Ajar. 9, 
July 17, 
Mar. 29, 
Feb. 16, 
Oct. 1, 
Sept 14, 
Apr. 25, 



1865 42 

187682 

1842 '52 

1859 178 

1870:76 

187356 

1862 36 

1846 

1847 

1852 

1865 

1865 

1826 

1827 

1828 

1845 

1849 

1851 

1851 

1856 

1859 

1861 

1862 

1862 

1863 

1871 

1870 68 

1874 28 

18691 

1873 66 
1877 78 
18761 

1862 69 
1870'68 
18351 
1845 '83 
1872 68 
1864, 
1849' 
1869 90 
1842 37 
1859 68 
1850 1 
1853 93 
1853^ 
1859 93 
1864 63 

1874 52 
1867 83 
1867 
1829 
1834 
1840 
185576 
1858 '80 
1858 44 
186129 

1863 62 



Moore, E. C, 
Moore, D.,(W. B.) 
Moran, Mrs. Mary, 
Morrison, Mrs. H. 
Morrison, Thomas, 
Morrison, Gabriel, 
Morrison, Eliza, 
Morrison, Rev.W.S 
Morrow, Jane, 
Morrow, Alexander, 
Morton, William, 
Morton, Alexander, 
Morton, Polly, 
Morton, John, 
Morton, Nancy, 
Morton, Elizabeth, 
Morton, Alexander, 
Mowerjr, Cath., 
Mowrer, Mrs. 
Mowrer, Andrew, 
Mowrer, James, 
Moye'r, John, 
Moyer, William P. 
Moyer, Jacob, 
Moyer, Daniel, 
Murphy, Griffith, 
Murray, Joseph M. 
Murray, Marg., 
Murray, Mrs. E. N., 
Murray, Mrs. C, 
Murray, Mrs. E., 
Murray, Esq., J. F., 
Musser, John, 
Musser, Esq., J., 
Musser, Margaret, 
Musser, Mary, 
Musser, Mrs. Sarah, 
Myers, Samuel, 
Myers, Amanda, 
Myer, Harriet, 
Meyers, Peter, 
Meyers, Mrs. Sarah, 
Nees, Michael, 
Nefif; Peter, 
Nelson, Joseph, 
Nesbit, Alexander, 
Nesbit, Mrs. Isabel. 
Nesbit, Mrs. 
Nesbit, Sarah Ann, 
Nesbit, Mary, 
Nesbit, jr., John, 
Nesbit, Jonathan, 
Nesbit, Esq., Wm., 
Nesbit, Mrs. Sarah, 
Nesbit, Alexander, 
Nesbit, Mrs. Nancy, 
Nesbit, James, 
Nesbit, Thomas, 



'Apr. 21, 
Dec. 28, 


Sept. 8, 
Apr. — , 


iMay 21,' 
iJuly 19, 
Mar. 18, 


Mar. 15, 


'July 7, 

Aug. 11, 


'July 30, 
Jan. 2, 


Feb. 2, 


Apr. 16, 
May 5, 
July 30, 
June 8, 


Dec. 3, 


Aug. 18, 


Feb. 1, 


Feb. 1, 


Apr. 13, 
May 8, 
Dec. 20, 


Oct. 14, 


Nov. 27, 


Sept. 24, 
July 15, 
June 21, 


Jan. 24, 


Mar. 17, 


June 3, 


Oct. 22, 


Nov. 9, 


Mar. — , 


Aug. 7, 


Oct. 16, 


Nov. 17, 


May 3, 
Apr. 2, 
July 16, 

Nov. 1, 


Sept. 16, 


Nov. 8, 


Sept. 13, 
Jan. 26, 


Apr. 5, 
Feb. 23, 


Mar. 7, 


May 19, 
Jan. 22, 


May 26, 
June 18, 


Aug. 24, 


Mar. 15', 



60 



1868 

1874 

1859 

1804 49 

1826 

1830 

1832 

1858 

1848 

1862 

1825 

1826 

1828 

1830 

1849 69 



45 



51 
'45 

'75 



1860 ; 

1876. 

1875' 

1827 

1829 

1839 

1848 60 

1863 35 

1870 79 

1873 74 

1868157 

1830 

1841 1 31 

1845 

1850' 

1853 

1869 

1830 

1837 

1837 

1863 

1872 i 

1825 

1869' 

1834 

1854 ' 

1863; 

1856 ( 

1856 

1823 

1823 « 

1827 

1832 

1849 

1856 

1858' 

1859 ( 

1860 [76 
186167 
1862 70 
1862 84 
1863 
1863 174 



'77 



81 

'76 

72 

57 

'60 



i69 



i24 
'62 



574 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Nesbit, Sarah, 
Nesbit, John, 
Ne.sl)it, P^lizabeth, 
NGsl)it, Mrs. Mary, 
Nesbit, R. I., 
Neuer, Henry, 
Neuer, JNIrs. Eliza. 
Nevius, Ralph, 
Nevius, Mrs. Lucr. 
Nevius, Aaron C, 
Nevius, Peter, 
Newman, Mrs. M., 
Neyliart, Daniel, 
Nicely, Samuel, 
Noetling, Dr. Wm,, 
Nogel, Jacob, 
Nogel, Mrs. jNIarj^, 
Noll, Mrs. Mary E., 
Noll, Col. Henry, 
Noll, WilUam, 
Noll, .John, 
Noll, Samuel L., 
Noll, Samuel, 
Noll, Peter, 
Noll, Elias, 
Njdiart, jNIichael, 



Date op 
Death. 



Sept. 15, 1864 74 
Jan. 27, 1865 80 
May 22, 1867 70 
Nov. 25, 1868 73 
xVug. 31, 1873 47 
Sept. 1, 1866 05 
Feb. 1,1872 75 
Sept. 22, 18321 
Jan. 19, 1841 73 
Oct. 2, 1857148 
Feb. 22, 1869,74 
Jan. 4, 1859 65 
Jan. 7, 1864I47 
Sept. 5, 1832! 
Jan. 22, 1861 84 
Apr. 18, 1860 64 
Jan. 17, 1864 37 
June 21, 1846 86 
Nov. 9, 1847 
Mar. 12, 1851 
Mar. 4, 1858 
May 5, 1864 
Dec. 18, 1866 
Oct. 2, 1869 
Apr. 13, 1876 
June — , 1869 




Oliphant, Charlotte, 'June 13, 1862 



Orwig, John, 
Orwig, George, 
Orwig, .Jacob, 
Orwig, Samuel, 
Orwig, Mrs. M. A., 
Osborn, INIrs. ISIary, 
Painter, John, 
Painter, John, 
Painter, Thomas, 
Palmer, Lewis, 
Pardoe, John, 
Pardoe, Esq., H., 
Parks, Elizabeth, 
Parr, Mrs. Eliz., 
Parsons, Rebecca, J. 
Patterson, Robert, 
Patterson, S. M., 
Patterson, Mrs. R., 
Patterson, J. B., 
Patterson, Wm. A., 
Paul, Sampson, 
Paul, John, 
Peifer, George, 
Peifer, Mrs. Cath., 
]^ellman, Samuel, 
Penny, William, 
Penny, Jane, 
Penny, William, 
Penny, Hugh, 
Penny, John, 
Penny, Thomas, 



Aug. 19, 1828 
iDec. 2, 1841 
Jan. 23, 1859 
Sept. 7, 1872 
June 7, 1875 
Apr. 7, 1874|71 
May 22, 1854 66 
June 6, I862I36 
Feb. 12, 186378 
May 24, 1860146 



April 1, 1859 
April 4, 1864 
Aug. 22, 1829 
Mar. 27, 1828 
Aug — , 1846 56 
July — , 1826 
Jan. 29, 1840 
Jan. 20, 1842 60 
May 8, 1843 1 70 
July 15, 1854183 
May 4, 1843 41 
June 6, 1870 65 
Aug. 7, 1861|57 
Sept. 27, 186l'67 
Jvily 25, 1875 i 81 
Nov. 25, I829I75 
July 21, 1850 
Jan. 20, 1852 
Dec. 3, 1853 
Aug. 6, 1868 78 
Aug. 28, 1868165 



Penny, Jane E., 
Penny, Alexander, 
Peters, INIiohael, 
I^hilliijs, Mrs. G., 
Phillijjs, Dennis, 
I^hlegor, Ludwig, 
Phlegor, John, 
Piper, Dr. F. A., 
Piper, Mrs. M. M. 
Poak, William, 
Poath, Mrs. Eliz., 
Poatli, Henry, 
Pollock, Mrs. I., 
Pollock, Mrs. Eliza, 
Pollock, Margaret, 
Pollock, Thomas, 
Pontius, Peter, 
Pontius, Elizabeth, 
Pontius, John F., 
Pontius, Rachael, 
Pontius, Philip, 
Pontius, Mrs. M., 
Porter, Samuel, 
Porter, William, 
Potter, Mrs. ilaria, 
Potter, James, 
Pratt, Charles, 
Preistly, Joseph R., 
Pross, Richard, 
Pursel, Daniel, 
Pu.rsel, Peter, 
Quiddington, Mrs. 
Quinn, Terrence, 
Quinn, Michael, 
Ramsey,Esq.,Wm., 
Ranck, Barbara, 
Ranck, Daniel, H., 
Ranck, Daniel, 
Ranck, Adam, 
Ranck, Mrs. Mary, 
Ranck, Joel, 
Ranck, William, 
Ranck, Mrs. Jane, 
Raser, Thomas, 
Rawn, Nathan, 
Ray, Mrs. Jane, 
Ray, Esq., John, 
Reedy, PhilijD, 
Ream, Miss Elean., 
Ream, John N., 
Ream, Samuel, 
Reber, Mrs., 
Reber, John, 
Reber, James, 
Reber, Margaret, 
Reed, George, 
Reed, John, 
Reed, Stewart, 



Date ov 
Death. 



52 



Feb. 18 1869 60 
Nov. 6, 1874 63 
June 12 1854 
Sept. 17,' 1827 
Apr. 22, 1863 
Mar. 15, 1858 74 
Sept. 25, 1860 71 
Apr. 22, 1831 
Dec. 10, 1876 
Aug. 13, 1830 



Oct. 18, 1863 49 
fVpril 9, 1865 79 
Oct. 23, 1824 
July 3, 1833 
Oct. 13, 1842 
Aug. 5, 1861 
Dec. 24, 1862 
May 2, 1863;39 
June 17, 1869|81 
Mar. 16, 1868 63 
Sept. 7, 1872 83 



79 



Apr. 18, 1876 
Jan. 10, 1825 
Aug. 19, 1872 
Apr. 10, 1826 
Mar. 22, 1865 
Aug. 24, 1829 
Nov. 10. 1863 
Jan. 26, 1874 
Mav 5, 1861 
Aug. 11, 1867 
Nov. 13, 1874 
Aug. 10 1831 
Feb. 20, 1854 
Oct. — , 1831 
Mar. 28, 1830 
Aug. 25, 1847 
Nov. 16, 1854 
Mar. 8, 1860 
Aug. 1, 1864 
Oct. 1, 1868 
Apr. 29, 1875 
May 28, 1875 

— , 1858 

Jan. 28, 1865 
Mar. 3, 1860 
Sept. 10, 1864 

, 1822 

Mar. 28, 1858 
Jan. — , 1835 
Oct. 2, 1874 
June 11, 1845 
June 22, 1852 
Sept. 20, 1853 
Sept. 24, 1863 
Sept. 20, 1854 
Mar. 22, 1860 
Nov. 6, 1864 



72 

68 

75 

72 
57 
78 
87 
73 
93 
69 

75 

75 
79 
33 
82 
69 
70 

58 

72 
86 

m 

69 

83 

82 
48 
54 
74 
79 
65 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



575 



Date of vA 
Death. 9 



Reed, Joseph, iJan. 

Reed, Mrs. Rachel, June 
Reed, George, lApr. 

Reed, Mrs. Cath., Sept. 
Reed, Peter, Apr. 

Reedy, Andrew, Nov. 
Reedy, John, I Nov. 

Reedy, Jacob, iISTov. 

Reedy, Mrs. Cath., ;Oct. 
Reedy, Jacob, iFeb. 

Rees,' Miss Hannah, ' Mar. 
Rees, Miss Nancy, iNov. 
Rees, Sema, ! July 

Rehniel, George, |Oct. 
Reichly, Christian, !Apr. 
Reidenbaugh, Dan.,! July 
Reidenbaugh, Jno.,'Aug. 
Reish, Daniel, jOct. 

Reish, John, 'Feb. 

Reitniyer, George, |Sept. 
Reitmyer, Mrs. S., Feb. 
Rengier, John, Feb. 

Rengier, Catherine, Dec. 
Rengier, Mrs. M. D. Jtme 
Rengier, Jacob, 'Jan. 
Rengier, George, 'May 
Rengier, ^Irs. Susa.L4.ug. 
Rengier, Daniel, |june 
Renner, Catherine, isept. 
Renner, Frederick, iNov. 
Reznor, Ann, |Oct. 

Reznor, Mrs. 'Nov. 

Reznor, sr., John, ,Oct. 
Reznor, James, I May 
Rheem, George, ISept. 
Rhoads, Jacob, July 

Rhoads, Mrs. Eliz., Feb. 
Rhoads, John, Feb. 

Richart, John F., Aug. 
Richart, Mrs. Mary, (Sept. 
Richter, Peter, '^ May 
Riehl, John, |Apr. 

Rishell, Mrs. !Apr. 

Rishell, Martin, :Dec. 
Rishell, John, jSept. —, 

Rishell, John, I Dec. 30, 

Rishell, Daniel, Nov. 8, 
Ritter, George, I Sept. 17, 

Ritter, Elizabeth, 'Jan. 19, 
Ritter, Col. Jacob, I Julv 28, 
Ritter, WUlam H., Mar. 11, 
Ritter, John, Mar. 10, 

Robb, James, , 

Robb, Nancy, Oct. 8, 

Robins, Daniel, I Jan. 20, 
Robinson, Ann, [Aug, 12, 
Robinson, Samuel, Sept. 15, 
Robinson, Mrs. S., JSept. 19, 



1868 66 

1873 64 

1874 69 

1874 73 

1875 67 
1827 45 
1845! 
1854 84 
1856 84 
1866 40 
1829! 
1853 88 
1863 63 
1823 35 

1863 77 

1859 60 
1861 68 
1847 48 
1848: 

1860 70 
1873 77 
1825 66 
1844 72 
1847 i 
1853 
1856 70 
1858 1 
1874183 
186341 
1865 82 
1828 
18281 
18351 
1836 
186l|90 
1851 177 
1858:72 

1876 i78 
1869^64 
1875 '69 
1846169 

1864 33 
1846 
1849 
185170 
1859 79 
1868:36 
1825170 
1846 35 
184947 
1861126 
1872i72 
1839 
1849187 



1864 
1825 
1825 
1825 



99 



Date op m 
Death. I^ 



Robinson, William, 'Dec. 1, 
Robinson, Adeline, .July 12, 
Robinson, Mrs. M., Oct^ 13, 
Robinson, Wilson, jNov. 19, 
Rockefeller, David, L\ug, 22, 
Rockey, John, Apr. 20, 

Rockey, George, Oct. 3, 
Rockey, Elizabeth, Feb. 6, 
Rodearmel, Sami, Feb. 11, 
Rohland, Richard, Mar. 20, 
Roland, Charles, iJuly 31, 
Roland, John, !Jan. 31, 

Rorabaugh, Philip, [july 3, 
Roshong, Henry, IDec. 29, 
Rote, Mrs. Elean'a, Apr. 20, 
Rothermell, Mrs. C.Aug. 4, 
Ross, James, P., Jixly 31, 
Roush, George, lAug. 23, 

Roush, Mary Ann, [Mar, 7, 
Roiish, Maria E., ,Oct. 11, 
Roush, Michael, Apr. 19, 
Roush, Esq., Sam'l, Feb. 5, 
Royer, Joel, Oct. 15, 

Royer, Joel, Aug. 6, 

Royer, Jacob, Mar. 30, 

Ruhl, George P., Apr. 29, 
Riihl, Mrs. Sarah, Aug, 9, 
Sanderson, Henrv, Feb. 8, 
Sanders, sr., Henry, Feb. 17, 
Sanders, Henry, Jan. 11, 
Sands, David, Apr. 18, 

Sands, James W., May, 10, 
Sawder, jNIatilda, Feb. 8, 
Savers, Ethan, Dec. 26, 

Sayers, Mrs. A., Feb. 23, 
Schaffle, Joseph, Jan. 11, 
Schaffle, Charles D., Feb. — , 
Schaffle, Frank S., Apr. 6. 
Schnable, jr., Geo., Aug. 5, 
Schnable, Hon. G., Dec. 13, 
Schock, Mrs. H., Dec. 9, 
Schrack, Benjamin, Dec. 9, 
Schrack, Susanah, June 19, 
Schrack, Esq., Jno., June 4, 
Schrack, Eve, Jan. 15, 

Schrack, Daniel, Dec. 25. 
Schrack, Mrs. E., Sept. 20, 
Schroyer, Conrad, Sept. 1. 
Schroyer, jr., C, Mar. 7, 
Schroyer, Cath., Dec. 23, 
Schwenck, Esq., D., Jan. 19, 
Scudder, Esq., D., Jan. 27, 
Search, Elijah, Aug. 25, 

Search, Mrs. Sarah, Mar. 21 
Search, Thomas, Sept. 25, 
Search, Stephen, Apr. 15, 
Seebold, Mrs. B., Auo-. 22 
Seebold, Sarah, Mar. 19' 



185285 

1854 26 

1865 95 

1867,51 

1876! 76 

1842! 59 

1853 70 

187273 

1843 52 

1850 

1865 

1866 

1837 

1850 80 

1875|70 

1876:94 

I860' 52 

1839:84 

1848125 

1857 1 63 

1859 77 

187377 

185375 

187253 

1876 77 

1843 82 

1863 67 

1828 

1850 82 

1870' 

1850 

1877 

1827 

1845 

1846 

1863: 

1863 

1876 . 

1854: 

1863' 

1875 I 



'74 

I 

■59 



'36 



•34 

:32 

!74 
i60 

1828 67 



1842 



70 



1860 58 

1861 86 
1869 58 
1876 60 
1825 63 
1855 65 
1860164 
1861 
1829 
1848 
1854 
1862 
1864 
1825 
1828 



57(> 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Seebold, Nancv, 
Seebold, Philip, 
Seerer, Jacob, 
Sergeant, Mrs. 
Shatter, William, 
Shatter, Esq., Hen., 
Shatter, Esq., Sim., 
Shatter, Mrs.. 
Shaffer, Mathias, 
Shatter, Mrs. Mat., 
Shatter, David, 
Shamp, Jesse, 
Shamp, Ezra, 
Shannon, Mrs. M., 
Shannon, Ejjh. P., 
Shearer, Maj. Jas., 
Scheckler, Mrs. E., 
Shamorj^, John C, 
Shamp, Mrs. J., 
Sheokler, Mrs. C, 
Sheckler, Mrs. M., 
Sheokler, Daniel, 
Sheokler, Tobias, 
Sheckler, Henrj^, 
Sheckler, Esq., A., 
Sheller, Mrs. Marg., 
Slieller, Christian, 
Sheller, Mrs. J. W., 
Sherard, William, 
Shipton, Esq., T., 
Sliields, William, 
Shively, Benjamin, 
Shoemaker, Eenj., 
Shoemaker, Sam., 
Shoemaker, Mrs. S., 

Showers, , 

Shrader, Frederick, 
Shriner, Mrs. M. E., 
Sliriner, Esq., Jno., 
Shriner, W. B., 
Shriner, Mrs. Eliz., 
Shriner, Samuel, 
Shuck, Peter, 
Sierer, Sarah, 
Silsby, Uriah, 
Silsby, Esther, 
Simonton, J, W., 
Simonton, Jaiie 6., 
Simonton, James, 
Simonton, Mrs. M., 
Sites, George, 
Sites, Mrs., 
Sleer, Jacob, 
Slear, Mrs. Eliz., 
Slear, Daniel, 
Slear, George, 
Slenker, Jacob, 
Slenker, Esq., J. G., 



Date of 
Death. 



Apr. 24, 
July 24, 
Dec. — , 
Aug. 28, 
June 5, 
Mar. 1, 
Oct. 22, 
Nov. 10, 
Oct. 22, 
Sept. 11, 
May 7, 

Dec. — , 
Mar. 3, 
Aug. 28, 
Apr. 11, 
Oct. 15, 
July 11, 
Sept. 27, 
Oct. 25, 
Mar. 12, 
Aug. 30, 
June 10, 
Feb. 15, 
Au.g. 21, 
Jan. 7, 
Sept. 13, 
Apr. 25, 
Apr. — , 
Feb. 4, 
May 21, 
June 11, 
Jan. 18, 
July 16, 
Julv 29, 
Feb. 9, 
June 5, 
Oct. 22, 
Dec. 3, 
Sept. 26, 
Mar. 11, 
Jan. 17, 
Apr. 18, 
Feb. 27, 
May 26, 
Dec. 10, 
Sept. 10, 
Apr. 6, 
Feb. 24, 
Nov. 4, 
Oct. 6, 
Nov. 4, 
June 6, 
Jan. 13, 
Jan. 22, 
Mar. 1, 
Nov. — , 
Feb. 11, 



86 



1828 

1874 

1824 

1828 

1825 

1833 

1838 

1853 87 

18541 

1861 1 95 

1864 

1824 

1835 

1845 

1851 

1864 

1855 

1868 

1873 

1832 

1837 

1842 

1850 

1874 

1875 

1859 

1862 

1863 

1825 

1827:74 

1858 80 
187361 
1856,70 
1862 ;79 
1865 

1859 80 
1873 82 
1856 37 
1860,70 
1862 43 
1866133 
1868! 39 
1849 78 



77 



74 



85 



62 



1875 
1849 
1871 
1853 



62 



1854130 



1858 
1861 
1824 
1846 
1857 
1872 
1874 
1875 
1863 
1871 



Slifer, David C;, 
Slifer, Jacob, 
Slonaker, Mrs. A., 
Slough, .Jacob, 
Smaitzried, Gotlieb, 
Smiley, Rev. Thos., 
Smith, Elizabeth, 
Smith, Dr. Jos. L., 
Smith, Dr. Jonas, 
Smith, Catherine, 
Smith, Elizabeth, 
Smith, Gideon, 
Smith, Michael, 
Smith, Charles D., 
Smith, Susanna, 
Smith, Rev. W. R., 
Smith, Rev. J. W., 
Smith, John B., 
Smith, Wilson, 
Smith, Mrs. Mary, 
Smith, George, 
Smith, Esq., A.W., 
Smith, George, 
Snook, Daniel E., 
Snyder, Mrs. Mary, 
Snyder, Simon, 
Snyder, Hon. John, 
Snyder, George A., 
Snyder, Antis, 
Snyder, Mary M., 
Snyder, Reuben, 
Snyder, Henry W., 
Solomon John, 
Soult, David, 
Spatz, Lewis, 
Spatz, Joseph, 
Specht, Adam, 
Spidler, Daniel, 
Spidler, David, 
Sjaidler, Jacob, 
Spigelmyer, M. E., 
Spotts, Samuel, 
Spotts, Michael, 
Spotts, Mary, 
Spotts, Michael, 
Spyker, Mrs. Maria, 
Spyker, Jonathan, 
Spyker, Solma, 
Spyker, Mrs. E., 
Stahl, John, 
Stahl, Adam, 
Stahl, Lewis, 
Stahl, Jacob, 
Stahl, Elizabeth, 
Stahl, Mrs. Cath., 
Stahl, George, 
Stahl, Mrs. Cath., 
Stahl, Jeremiah, 



Date op |h 
Death. !^ 



Aug. 18 
Mar. 3 
Sept. 25 
Apr. 21 
Sept. 6 



About 
Dec. 
Mar. 17 
July 3 
May 22 
Apr 
July 2 
June 10 



18: 



Sept 
Apr. 
Mar. 19 
Mar. 1 
Feb. 28, 
Jan. 19 
Feb. 12 
Mar. 6 
Sept. 14 
Oct 

May 10 
Aug. 15 
June 
Dec. — 
June 14 
Nov. 24 
Apr. 18 



Aug. 9. 
May 20 
Oct. 4 
Aug. 
Mav 30, 
Apr. 21 
July 7 
May 17 
Oct. 18, 
Oct. 
Oct. 
Oct. 
Dec 
Jan, 
Dec 

Apr. — 
Oct. 21 
Jan 

Aug. 29 
Sept. 22 
Mav 4 
Apr. 12 
Aug. 25 
Apr. 12 



, 1864 
, 1868 
, 1874 
, 1876 
, 1863 
, 1832 
'22. 
, 1825 
, 1826 
, 1829 
, 1836 
, 1841 
, 1841 
, 1844 
, 1850 
, 1849 
, 1852 
, 1859 
, 1862; 
, 1862 i 
, 1869 
, 1870 
,1871 
, 1845 
, 1823 
, 1838 
, 1850 
, 1865 
, 1861 
,1865 
, 1876 
, 1866 
, 1840 
, 1824 
, 1853 
,1857 
, 1824 
', 1826 
, 1862 
, 1873 
, 1847 
, 1864 
, 1872 
, 1865 
, 1872 
, 1829 
, 1862 
1868 
, 1868 
, 1832 
, 1850 
, 1855 
, 1856 
,1856 
, 1860 
, 1861 
, 1861 
, 1862 



53 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



577 



Date of 
Death. 



Dec. 29, 
Apr. 28, 
May 27, 
Mai-. 11, 
Jun. 30, 
Apr. 30, 
Nov. 10, 
Feb. 3, 
July 27, 
Dec, 17, 
Oct. 7, 
Mar. 22, 
May 22, 
Apr. 26, 
July 29, 



Jan. 4, 

I Apr. 25 
[April 4, 
Aug. 22, 
'Jun. 28, 
jSept. 26, 
'Dec. 8, 
Feb. 16, 
Sept. 3, 
Sept. 28, 



Stahl Jacob, 

Stahl, Peter, 

Steans, John, 

Stamin, John, 

St. Clair, John, 

St. Clair, Mrs. R., 

Steadman, Eliz., 

Steadman, Marg., 

Steadman, Marg., 

Steadman, Wm. C, 

Steadman, Mrs. R., 

Steadman, David, 

Steadman, H. C, 

Steans, Mrs. N., 

Stees, John, 

Sterner, Nathan, 

Sterner, Christop'r 

Sterner, Peter, 

Sterrett, John A., 

Stillwell, Hon. Jos., 

Stillwell, Mrs. Ann, 

Stineme], Mr., 

Stitzel, Jacob, 

Stoclv, Martin A., j 

Stoughton, Roland 

Stoughton, Mrs. J., i 

Stoughton, J. S. I --, 

Stougliton, Fred., tApr. 25, 
Stover, Mrs. M. M., Sept. 26, 

Strahan, Peter, iSept. 20, 

Stratton, Tyler, |Mar. 5, 

Stratton, Mrs. R., [Mar. 29, 
Straub, Andrew, ;Oct. 23, 
Straub, Abram, 'Aug. 21, 
Stravvbridge, Mary, [Oct. 11, 
Strawbridge, J., - Sept. 25, 
Strawbridge, Mrs. C. I Jun. 4, 
Strayhorn, Eliza, !Dec. 11, 
Streighorn, Peter, Sept. 20, 
Streighorn, Robert, May 8, 
Strickland, Samuel, Apr. 23, 
Strohecker, Leah, JFeb. 19, 
Strohecker, Dr. S., 'Auo-. 26 
Struble, Mrs. M., Aug. 15' 
Sullivan, Wm. B., Sept. l' 
Sutlierland, Col. T.,'Oct. 15 
Sutherland, Jane, Feb. %, 
Swarm, sr., John, Sept. 24, 
Swarm, John, Mar. 25, 

Swartz,Geo.(W.D.) Apr. 17 
Swineford, John, June 24,' 
Swmeford, Mrs. M.,'Aug. 18, 
Sypher, Jacob, June 6, 

Tate, William, July 19 

Taylor, Tliomas, Sept. 19' 
Taylor, William C, June 9, 
Templeton, Sam., Feb. 18 
Templeton, Rev. J., Dec. 3, 
37 



1864 82 
1868 [81 
185178 

1875 60 
1873 
1875 
1827 
1832 
1834 
1840 
1843 
1863 58 

1876 43 
83 



1861 

1855 

1829 

1841 

1864 67 

187271 

185li74 

1862 [72 
18441 

1863 68 
1857,70 
1832! 
1842 i 
1857 [ 
1869169 
187671 
1845 
1825 1 
1850 
1824^38 
1864^60 
1829 i 
1861 '87 
1870 80 
1867!78 
18451 
18J3 67 
1858:79 
1853 i 
1869 75 
1868 60 
1850 45 
1816 84 
1819 82 
1827 [ 
1841,66 
187l[65 

1867 45 
1872 
185474 
1859 59 

1868 76 
1874 70 
1826 72 
1843, 



Date of 
Death. 



22 



68 



Tharp, Esq., James, 'Mar. 27, 1849 
Thompson, Wm., [Apr. 1,1823 72 
Thompson, John, [Aug. 22, 1823 70 
Thompson, Benj., :Oct. — , 1830| 
Thompson, Mrs. J., Aug. 21, 18391 
Thompson, Rev. G.,' Jaii. 28, 1864 '43 
Thompson, Mrs. M.,' Apr. 10, 1864i 
Thompson, Chas.L., June 29, 18651 
Thompson, Mrs. B.,|Jan. — , 1869[60 
Thornton, Dr. T. A., {Feb. 8, 1867 51 
Thornton, Mrs. A., lAjsr. 24, 1873; 
Thursbj^, Margaret, (Jan. — , 1848 91 
Todd, Rev. Nath., July 8, 1867^88 
Trester, George, May 28, 1850 
Trout, John, Mar. 15, 1862 

Trutt, Mrs. Eve, Aug. 19, 1861 
Tucker, Martlia G., Apr. 20, 1864 

Tweed, David, , i824 

Tweed, William, Feb. 1,' 1857 
Ulsh, Andrew, Apr. 19, 1864 79 

Valentine, Bond, Oct. — , 1862 
Van Buskirk, Thos. Sept. 12, 1830 ' 
Van Busldi-k, Rich. Oct. 9, 183066 
Van Buskirk, John, Aug. 2, 1836! 
Van Buskirk, John, Jan. 28, 1874:80 
Vanhorn, Espy, Aug. 25, 1829 
Van Gundy, Christ., Sept. 30, 1836 ■ 
Vanvalzah, Mrs. E., Mar. 30, 1840' 
Vanvalzah,jr.,Dr.R. Mar. 14, 1851 
Vanvalzah,jr.,Dr.T. May 28, 1852 
Vanvalzah, John A. Aug. 26, 1854 
Vanvalzah, Mrs. N., Apr. 26, 1857 
Vanvalzah, W. W., Oct. 13, 18c 

Vanvalzah, Rob. H., July 25, 18C0 ; 
Vanvalzah, Mrs. S., Nov. 16, 1862 

Vanvalzah, Mrs. H., July 25, 1870 

Voneida, Peter, Aug. 26, 18581' 

V oneida, John, Mar. 26, 

Voneida, Esther, July 8, 

Vornando, Mrs., 

Vorse, Dr. Isaac S., 

Vorse, Mrs. Eliz., 

Waggenseller, Dr., 

Waggenseller, Wm. 

Wagner, Andrew, 

Wagner, Mrs. R., 

Wagner, Michael, 

Wagner, Daniel, 

Wagner, Mrs. S., 

Walborn, Martin, 

Waldrum, Samuel, 

Wales, Mary, N. B. 

Wales, Marj^, 

Walker, John, 

Walker, Francis, 

Walker, Mrs. Mary, 

Walker, Thomas, i 

Wallace, Polly, 



Jan. 17, 
Aug. 17, 
Apr. 28, 
Aug. 10, 
Dec. 30, 
Aug. 22, 
Dec. 22, 
Aug. 20, 
Apr. 13, 
Sept. 20, 
Aug. 25, 
May 15, 
Feb. 20, 
Sept. IS, 
June 9, 
July 16, 
[Sept. 17, 
'Mar. 17, 



1858177 

1865! 

1823 

1839 

1878 42 

1847 

1876 

1826 

1884' 

1858172 

1861 '62 

1872 81 



1865 
1858 
1826 
1826 
1827 

1867 50 
18(57 85 

1868 58 

1829; 



S7S 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 




Wallace, Joseph G., 
Wallace, Sarah, 
Wallace, William, 



Jan. 6, 1844 
July 24, 1849 
Julv 15. 1857 



V. 



Wallace, Elizabeth,! Nov. 26, 1860 44 



Wallace, Joseph, 
Wallace, Mrs. N., 
Walter, William, 
Waller, Abram, 
Walls, Miss S. McC. 
Walls, Johnson, 
Waters, Thomas, 
Waters, Mrs. Ellen, 
Watson, Mrs. M., 
Watson, Samuel, 
Watson, Robert, 
Watson, Mrs. S. C, 
Watson, William, 
Watson, Davicl, 
Weaver, Jacob, 
Weaver, M. H., 
Weidensaul, A. J., 
Weirick, Mrs. M., 
Weist, Miss E., 
Wehr, Simon, 
Weirick, Esq., D., 
Weirick, Esq., S., 
Welker, Mrs. L., 
Welch, Esq., C, 
Welsh, Henrj^, 
Wertz, John," 
Wetzel, Henrjr, 
White, James, 



Mar. 22, 1862 
Oct. 26, 1868,69 
Feb. 10, 1874 60 
Mar. 18, 1869,57 
Mar. 14, 1860 18 
Apr. 18, 1868 50 
Sept. 6, 1864 65 
Sept. 10. 1868 95 
Mar. — , 1825 
Jan. 17, 1841 
Sept. — , 1846 
Mar. 25, 1849 
May 22, 1866 
Oct. 9, 1874 
Apr. 13, 1862 
Feb. 13, 1872 
Aug. 10, 1869 
Mar. 4, 1861 
Aug. 17, 1875 
Dec. 19, 1840 
Apr. 3, 1866 
Feb. 9, 1869 
Dec. 22, 1860 
Jan. — , 1855 
May 16, 1862 
July 26, 1861 173 
:Oct. 4, 1850 90 
Jan. 15, 1862 ;44 



Whiting, Wm. B., [Jan. 2, 1861,33 
Whitmer, Ann, jOct. 4, 1845 70 
Whitmer, Sebas'n 
Whitmer, Peter, 



Whittaker, John, 
Wikotf, Peter, 
Wildtrout, Fred., 
Wilhelm, Moses, 
Williamson, Rev. J. 
Wilson, Elizabeth, 
Wilson, Mary, 
Wilson, Sarah, 
Wilson, Thomas, 
Wilson, .James, 
Wilson, Elizabeth, 
Wilson, Mrs. Cath. 
Wilson, John, 
Wilson, Samuel, 
Wilson, Samuel H., 
Wilson, Mrs. Eliz 
Wilson, Thos. C, 
Wilson, Charles, 
Wilson, Esq., Sam., 
Wilson, Mathias, 
Wilson, John F., 
Wilson, Louisa, 



Julv 17, 1846 j73 
Juiie 8, 1877|78 
Julv 25, 1859 64 
Maj' 29, 18321 
June 27, 1848:71 
Apr. 19, 1862 172 
Apr. 10, 1835169 

— , 1823 

Julv 11, 1828 
Apr. 8, 1829 
May 23, 1831 
Dec. 26. 1831 
Nov. 24', 1832 
Aug, 21, 1835 
Jan. 22, 1842 
Jan. 16, 1843 
Mar. 14, 1850 
Aug. 9, 1851 
May 25, 1853 
.June 21, 1853 
Nov. 3, 1855 
Mar. 20, 1859 
Apr. 6, 1859 
July 20, 1860 



Wilson, William, 
Wilson, Hon. A. S.,' 
Wilson, Mrs. Ann, 
Wilson, Mrs. Sarah, 
Wilson, Hugh, 
■Wilson, Francis, 
Wilson, Mrs. S. B., 
Wilt, Adam, 
Wilt, Esq., Jno. C, 
Winegardner, P., 
Winegardner, N., 
Winegardner, H., 
Winegardner, Alia., 
Winters, Sarah, 
Winters, David, 
Winters, Mrs. C, 
Winters, Margaret, 
Winters, Daniel, 
Winters, Sarah, 
Winters, Mrs. Reb., 
Wise, Mrs. Barbara, 
Wise, Mrs. Eleanor, 
Witmer, Sebastian, 
Witmer, Mrs. S., 
Wittenmyer, Jacob, 
Wolfe, Jonathan, 
Wolfe, Michael, 
Wolfe, Samuel, 
Wolfe, Anthonv, 

Wolfe, , 

Wolfe, Samuel, 
Wolfe, Mrs. Mary, 
Wolfe, Mrs. Han'h, 
Wolfe, John, 
Wolfe, AndreAV, 
Wolfe, Peter, 
Wolfe, Mrs. Eve., 
Wolfe, Leonard, 
Wolfe, Mrs. E. M., 
Wolsey, Henry, 
Woods, Cliristop'r, 
Woomer, Mrs., 
Worman, F. S., 
Wykoff, Mrs. S., 
Yearick, Esq., H., 
Yarnell, George, 
Yerger, Jacob, 
Yoder, Jacob, 
Yoder, Samuel, 
Yohn, John, 
Yost, Elizabeth, 
Young, James, 
Young, Frederick, 
Young, John, 
Young, Maria, 
Young, Catherine, 
Young, Daniel 
Young, Jacob, 



June 12 
Dec. 19 
Sept. 21 
June 31 
July 3 
Feb. 15 
Nov. — . 
Aug. 13 
|May 24 
Aug. 17 
July 15 
Jan. 1 
Feb. 16 
Apr. — 
Aug. 13 
Mar. 19 
June 21 
Jan. 5 
Jan. 7 
Oct. 18 
Oct. 11 
Aug. 17 
Apr. 15 
July 
June 23 
Nov. 6 
Nov. 25 
Sept. 15 
Jan. 21 
Mar. 17 
'Apr. 19 
|Feb. 17 
'Apr. 7 
Nov. 11 
'Jan. 21 
Dec. 20 
Feb. 4 
Feb. 12 
May 6 
Dec. 18 
Aug. 23 
Sept. 26 
Sept. 24 
Jan. 16 
June 21 
June 6 
Jan. 22 
Apr. 11 
Mar. 7 
Feb. 17 
Oct. 5 
July 20, 
Aug. 29 
July 8 
Jan. 
Aug. 6 
June 4 
June 7 



1863 76 
1864 '64 
1865'67 

1872184 
1873 81 



1874 
1874 
1830 
1858 
1829 
1854 
1872 
1875 
1821 
1825 
1829 
1829 
1837 
1868 
1873 
1823 
1875 
1824 
1874 
1856 
1834 
1847 
1850 
1851 



50 



76 



64 



61 

60 
74 
44 
77 
78 
73 
60 
46 
81 
40 
76 
1851J79 
1860 20 
1862'30 
1866162 
1868 20 
87 
73 
63 
78 
60 
62 



1871 
1871 
1872 
1875 
1876 
1871 
1853 
1827 
1876 
1876 
1856 
1873 
1870 
1864 
1870 
1871 
1856 
1825 
1825 
1840 
1843 
1853 
1854 
1857 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



579 



Yoting, William, 
Young, Mrs. Marg., 
Young, Eleanor, 
Young, Mrs., 
Young, Adam, 
Young, Abra.,(B.,) 
Young, Abraham, 
Young, Mrs. Eliza., 
Young, Mrs. Ellen, 
Youngman, George, 
Zearfos, Mrs. M. A., 
Zeigler, Mrs., 



Date op 
Death. 



20, 1859 73 
3, 1860 62 

17, 1865 

18, 1866 
8, 1872 
3, 1873 

13, 1875 
22, 1866 
18, 1867 
6, 1843 
18, 1860 
— , 1826 



Zellers, Peter, 
Zellers, John, 
Zellers, sr., John, 
Zellers, Mrs. Cath., 
Zellers, Daniel, 
Zellers, Mrs. Han., 
Zellers, Daniel, 
Zellers, Samuel, 
Zentmyer, Jacob, 
Zentmyer, Mrs. E., 
Ziebach, Mrs. Ann, 
Zimmerman, John, 



Date op 
Death. 



Jan. 

Aug. 

Nov. 

July 

Nov. 

Feb. 

Oct. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Mar. 

Sept. 

Aug. 



5, 1822 

1, 1832 

12, 1843 
22, 1850 
30, 1853 
21, 1856 

13, 1865 
3, 1874 
8, 1849 

13, 1863 

2, 1867 
18, 1825 




MILITARY RECORD, 1861-5. 



COMPANY E, FIFTY-FIRST PENNSYLVANIA. 



Captains. 
G. H. Hassenplug, 
William R. Forster. 

First Lieiotenaiits. 

John A. Morris, 
Francis R. Frey. 

Second Lieute7iants. 

Martin L. Schoch, 
James L. Seebold, 
George C. Gutelivis. 

/Sergeants. 

John M. Wierman, 

Thomas D. Reed, 

Elbridge G. Maize, 

Charles Mills, 

Cornelius Edelman, 

George Diehl, discharged, July 11, 
1865, for wounds received inaction, 

Lewis G. Titus, died, January 7, 
1863, of wounds received at Fred- 
ericksburg, December 13, 1862. 



Corporals. 

John H. Sortman, 

Cyrus A. Eaton, 

Peter Strubble, 

Isaac Treat, 

Daniel High, 

Ebert Sprowles, 

William Kleckner, 

Isaac G. Magee, 

Adam Gluse, 

Thomas F. Search, 

John C. Youngman, 

George W. Foote, 

Levi H. Amnion, 

Thomas S. Mauck, died, June 20, 
1864, of wounds received at Peters- 
burg, Virginia, buried in National 
cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, 

George M. Aurand, killed at W^l- 
don raUroad, August 19, 1864, 

580 



James Luker, 

Charles D. Kline, junior. 

Musician. 
Joseph A. Logan. 

Privates. 

Aikey, Jeremiah, captured, died at 
Andersonville, Georgia, 

Baker, Ralston, 

Barklow, George E., died at Browns- 
ville, Mississippi, July 21, 1863, 

Barnes, Albert E., 

Beers, David H., 

Bell, William H., 

Benfer, Abraham, 

Benner, Asher, 

Benner, Lewis J., 

Black, James, 

Blair, Simon S., 

Bomgardner, John, 

Boop, Jacob, 

Bowers, George, 

Brouse, Benjamin H., killed at Cam- 
den, North Carolina, April 19, 
1862, 

Burk, George P., 

Burkhart, Adolph, 

Burris, Samuel, 

Chappel, Ezra, 

Chambers, James M., 

Chambers, M. B., 

Clapham, Thomas H., died, March 
13, 1864, 

Cole, Luther G., 

Cornelius, James F. 

Cornelius, George W., 

Curfman, Daniel, 

Curtis, Jeremiah F., 

Derkes, John D., 

Dersham, Henry, 

Dewire, Alexander, 

Diehl, Henry C, 

Dingman, Abraham, 

Dolbj', Isaac, 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



jSi 



Dolby, Abraham, 

Donacby, Thomas, 

Donnison, Aaron, 

Dunkle, James M., killed at Cold 
Harbor, June 3, 1864, 

Eidem, Henry, 

Engle, SoloDion, 

Fetter, John, 

Fletcher, Justice J., 

Fox, Henry D., 

Frederick, Jacob, 

Galloway, George W., 

Geniger, William, 

Gordon, Jacob, 

Hansen, David, 

Hanselman, David, 

Hanselman, Adam, 

Harris, Berryhill B., 

Hassenplug, John T., 

Hauley, Timothy, 

Heckrnan, Wm. R., 

Heinbach, Elias, 

Heitsman, Isaiah, 

Heitsman, Jacob, 

Heitsman, Henry, 

Henderson, William, 

Hendershot, Christ, 

Hendricks, John, 

Hickernell, Robert, died of wounds 
received at Cold Harbor, June 3, 
1864, 

Hilbish, Ammon, 

Hoffman, William R., killed at Cam- 
den, Xorth Carolma, April 19, 
1862, 

Hofftnan, Edward J., 

Hummel, John, 

Hutchinson, Henry, 

Irwin, Robert, H., 

Kelly, James T., 

Kennedy, Barton, 

Kidson, Francis, 

Kline, Joel, 

Kline, Reuben, 

Kline, Daniel, 

Kline, Charles, 

Kline, Andrew T., 

Kline, Jacob L., died May 6, 1864, 
buried in United States general 
hospital cemetery, Annapolis, 
Maryland, 

Klingier, John, 

Kunkel, Samuel, 

Kunkel, Jonathan, 

Laird, Samuel H., 

Laudenslager, William, 

Leinbach, William F. N., 

Lenhart, John, 

Lenhart, David, killed near Peters- 
burg, Virginia, June 17, 1864, 

Lloyd, Charles, 



Lloyd, John, 

Long, Jacob, 

Lotz, Galen N., 

Lytle, Charles, 

McGregor, Samuel, 

McFadden, Jackson, 

Marsh, Charles H., 

Masterson, Ed. J., 

Mecklejs Alfred, MLled at Weldon 
railroad, August 19, 1864, 

Mertz, Jacob K., 

Middaugh, John T., 

Miller, Jacob, 

Miller, Henry, 

Miller, James, 

Millhouse, John, 

Moll, Joseph A., 

Mullen, Arthur, 

Myers, Daniel, 

Norton, Henry M., 

Orwig, William P., 

Orwig, John W., 

Paul, Peter G., 

Post, Victor E., 

Radenbaugh, Jeremiah, 

Rahback, John, 

Reed, Martin G., 

Renner, Levi, 

Reese, Jonathan, 

Rote, Joel, 

Rote, Samuel, 

Rulp, John v., 

Sassman, Emanuel, 

Sassman, Noah W., 

Searles, Sebastian, 

Seebold, George A., 

See bold. Castor, died at Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania, May 11, 1864, 

Schaffle, Frank S., 

Schnure, George, 

Schnure, William, 

Shatfer, Anthony, 

Sheckler, John W., 

Sheary, Samuel F., 

Shreliier, Joseph, 

Shriner, Josiah, 

Sholley, William S., 

Simmons, Thomas, 

Smith, Albert E., 

Sm^der, Henry, 

Snyder, Jonathan, 

Speese, Daniel, 

Stitzer, John T., 

Toland, Robert, 

Trainer, Charles H., 

Tucker, Samuel, 

Watson, William S., 

Weaver, John D., 

Webb, William, 

Wilson, Charles, 

Wirt, Andrew G., 



SS2 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Wirt, George W., died at Lexington, 

Kentucky, September 15, 1S6B, 
Woltinger, Joseph, 



Woodward, C. W., 
Zechman, Melanc'n, 
Zimmerman, William, 



COMPANY H, FIFTY-FIRST PENNSYLVANIA. 



Captains. 
J. Merrill Linn, 
G-eorge Sliorkley. 

First Lieutenants. 
J. Gilbert Beaver, killed at Antie- 

tam, September 17, 1862, 
Hugh McClure. 

Second Lieutenants. 
Aaron Smith, 
Jacob H. Santo, 
David C. Brewer. 

First Sergeant. 
Jacob Nyhart. 

Sergeants. 
Matthew Vandine, killed at Antie- 

tam, September 17, 1862, 
George Breon, 
Seth'j. Housel, 
Harrison Hause, 
Frederick Erwine, 
George W. Brown, 
John Aldenderfer, 
James Kincaid, 
Daniel M. Wetzell, 
William Allison, killedatFredricks- 

burg, December 13, 1862. 

Gorj)oraJs. 
H. J. Lingerman, 
John Grambling, 
Alfred Durst, 
George H Kauff, 
Henry Foglemian, 
Michael Lepley, 
Andrew Knepp, 
R. A. M. Harner, 
H. C. McCormick, 
Henry B. Wetzell, 
Reuben Baker, 
Peter Koser, 
Nicholas Nichols, 
Robert Henry, 
H. Co'y McCormick, 
John Q. Adams, 
Charles Merrill, 
James L. Schooly, 
Deitrich Beckman, 
J. Bachenhamer, 
Henry J. Warner. 



Musicians. ■ 
Jacob Moore, 
Charles P. McFadden, 
Andrew Bernade. 

• . Privates. 
Allshouse, Peter, 
Angstadt, Jonas, 
Angstadt, Mabury, 
Armpriester, William, 
Au:chenbaugh, William, 
Ayers, James, 
Baldwin, Eleazer, 
Bastian, Peter, ^/ 

Bastian, Abraham, • 
Bear, Edward, killed at Antietam 
Beeber, Henry, 
Beehn, Henry A., 
Beck, Isaac, killed at Antietam, 
Benner, Lewis J., 
Bennett, Miles, 
Berkeville, Daniel, 
Blunt, James, 
Brensinger, Levi, 
Britton, Simon, 
Brown, Asa, 
Brownfield, John, ''' 
Bobst, David, 
Boon, Daniel, 
Bower, Harrison, 
Bomgardner, Daniel, 
Bordmel, Daniel C, 
Boyer, John, 
Boyer, William, 
Buskirk, Jacob, 
Carey, George W., 
Casseck, Northell, 
Chriesher, William F., 
Christv, James, 
Clark," David, — - 
Corl, John, 
Dawson, John L., 
Debilzon, John S., 
Dehaven, Reuben,' 
Dillsplains, Mahl'n, 
Dopp, J. Peter, 
Dougherty, John, 
Dougherty, James, 
Douty, William H., kCled at Knox- 

ville, Tennessee November 29, 

1863, 
Doyle, Matthew, 
Doyle, James, 
Dumheller, Abner, 



AANALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



583 



Dysher, Mathias, 

Dye, Richard, 

Eardly, John W., killed at North 
Anna, May 27, 1864, 

Eglof, Samuel, 

Ervlne, Frederick, 

Espenship, David, 

Everly, Andrew F., 

Everett, William, 

Farley, Samuel, died at Knoxville, 
Tennessee, December 19, 1863, 

Fewring, George, 

Fies, Henry, 

Fike, John, 

Foote, John W., 

Fox, William H. R., 

Frederick, Ebenezer, 

Frynte, George H., 

Gallagher, W'illiam, 

Gardner, William, 

Getty, David H., 

Goss, Simon, 

Grier, Thomas G., died at Moore- 
head City, North Carolina, October 
6, 1864, 

Haas, William, 

Hain, Henry, 

Hain, John, 

Harding, Jarrett S., 

Harris, "Joseph, 

Hartline, Daniel, 

Hartline, David, 

Hefner, Jonathan, 

Hefflefinger, George, 

Henry, Adam, 

Hertzog, Emanuel, 

Heitsman, Isaiah, 

Hoffman, Thomas, 

Holen, Thomas, 

Holslander, George F., 

Humphrey, John, 

Ingerson, Hillman, 

Jones, Thomas, 

Keffer, Henry J., 

Kelly, James S., 

Kelly, James A., 

Kneph, Simon, 

Knode, Albion G., 

Kyseraski, Joseph, 

Lattimer, William J., 

Leamon, John E., 

Leinbach, Calvin L., 

Lenig, Jacob, 

Leplev, William, 

Lott, John W., 

Lyon, Conrad, 

McMurtrie, Isaac, 

McEvven, Samuel S., 

Marks, Levi, 

Marr, Tliomas P., 

Mease, George, 



Miller, John, 

Miller, Samuel S., 

Miller, Daniel I., 

Miller, Jeremiah, 

Miller, William A., 

Miller, Henry, 

Mocherman, John H., 

Moll, Joseph A., 

Moore, John, 

Moyer, Daniel B., 

Moyer, Daniel, 

Murphy, John, 

Murphy, Joseph, 

My ers, William H., 

Nainan, John A., 

Oaks, William L., 

Pareby, Joseph, 

Passel'l, Robert W., 

Phleger, Jacob, 

Phillips, Abraham F. C, 

Purcell, George, 

Ream, Jacob, 

Rexford, Henry E., 

Rhoades, Jacob, 

Search, Thomas F., 

Scales, Edwin, (N. B.,) 

Serwatznes, Joseph, 

Shafiter, Lewis L, 

Shappee, Dwier, 

Shalley, William, 

Shriner, William H., 

Shreck, John V., 

Slottman, Daniel, 

Smith, John P., 

Smith, John D., 

Smith, David, 

Smith, John, H., 

Smith, Jacob, 

Smith, Isaiah, 

Smith, Frederick, 

Smith, Peter, captured August 21, 

1864, absent at nuister out, 
Snyder, Nathaniel, 
Snvder, Samuel, 
Steltz William, 
Steward, Charles R., 
Sullivan, Patrick, 
Swab, William, 
Swaverly, Adam, 
Taylor, Samuel, 
Turner, James, 
Wagore, George, 
Watkins, Benjamin, 
Weisenbach, Anthony, 
Weisenbach, Leo, 
Wellings, William J., 
Wentzel, Jacob, 
Wien, William, 
Williamson, Aaron, 
Williamson, James, 
Williams, William, 



Jc?^ 



ANX.tLS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Wittes, Isaac, killed at Antietam, 
Wood, vVaron A., 
Uhl, Christian, 
Umstead, John C, 
Updegraph, Lewis, 



Van-Gezer, George, 
Yoder, David, 
Young, David I., 
Youngman, John C, 
Zechnow, Charles. 



COMPANY K, FIFTY-FIRST PENNSYLVANIA. 

{Includinr/ only those from Buffalo Valley and vicinity.^ 



Captain. 
George P. Carman. 

First Lieutenants. 
Josiah Kelly, 
John B. Linn. 

Second Lieutenant. 

Franklin Beale, 

Frank P. Sterner, promoted captain 

April 16, 1864, and killed in action 

May 12, 1864. 

Sergeants. 

L. J. Crossgrove, 

Thomas C. Pierce, killed in action 
front Petersburg, Virginia, June 
17, 1864, 

.lames Gibson, kUled at Petersbui-g, 
July 30, 1864, 

.John Vanlew. 

Corporals. 

William Buoy, died of wounds re- 
ceived at Cold Harbor, Virginia, 

Henry G. Dentler, died at Ancle rson- 
ville, Georgia, May 17, 1864 — grave 
1,161, 

Edward Held, 

Thomas J. Arbuckle, died in cap- 
tivity, 

Nathan M. Hann. 

Musician. 
Montgomery S. Adams. 
Privates. 
Aikey, Lewis, 
Aikey, Zechariah, 
Allen, Benjamm, 
Bastian, George W., 
Babcock, Joseph, 
Baldwin, Absalom, died at Ander- 

sonville, Georgia, September 24, 

1864, 
Barnhart, James, 
Bently, Franklin, 
Berryman, Richard, 
Betzer, John, 
Benfer, David, 
Bower, William D., 
Bratton, Philip H., 



Cole, Christopher E., 

Cox, John F., 

Crites, Kremer, 

Crossgrove, Samuel, 

Depo, Thomas, 

Doebler, Alexander, taken prisoner 

May 27, 1864, 
Duck, Franklin F., died in captivity. 
Dull, George, died at Alexandria, 

Virginia, September 19, 1864 — 

grave 2,683, 
Fangboner, John, 
Foster, Thomas, killed at Weldon 

railroad, August 19, 1864, 
Garrett, James, captured, died at 

Andersonville, Georgia, August 19, 

1864— grave 6,140, 
Geddes, John, 
Gift, .lonathan J., 
Hanselman, Peter, 
Harris, John, killed June 17, 1864, 
Henry, Isaiah, 

Hoover, Daniel, died June 27, 1864, 
Hoover, Charles, died at New York 

city, November 12, 1864, 
Houtz, Henry, 
Huffman, John, 
Ludwig, Jarad, 
McBride, Paul M., 
Macpherson, John, 
Mann, Pliilip, J., 
Marr, James, 
Meylert, William S., 
Mills, David, 
Moore, Joseph G., 
Ocker, David G., 
Poeth, Josei^h G., 
Rank, Benjamin, wounded at Cold 

Harbor, 
Rank, Samuel, 
Rank, John, died of wounds received 

in battle at Spottsylvania, 
Reese, John, 
Reichlj^, David, 
Reinhart, Nicholas, 
Reish, Solomon, captured at Weldon 

railroad, 
Richards, Edward, died September 

10, 1864, of wounds. 
Rider, Benjamin, 
Riefsnyder, William, 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



5S5 



Royer, Samuel, 

Sarvis Joseph, 

Souders, Ephraim, 

Search, William, 

Shaflfer, Thomas, 

Sheriy, George H., 

Shiers, Michael, 

Shilling, Alfred, wounded at Wil- 
derness, May 6, 18fi4, 

Shingle, David, killed at Cold Har- 
bor, Virginia, June 3, 1864, 

Showers, JBenry C, 

Stees, David C", 

Stuttsman, William M., 

Summers, Oliver, 



Royer, Samuel, 

Roush, Benjamin, 

Terry, George W., 

Treaster, Henry, 

Truitt, William M., 

Turner, Lyman B., 

Watts, John, 

W^eidell, John, died, October 2(i, 1864, 
of wounds received at Cold Harbor, 
June 3, 1864, buried in National 
cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, 

Wertz, Robert, 

Winegardner, John, wounded in 
action, June 6, 1864. 

Yearick, Tobias. 



COMPANY D, FIFTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 



Ga%)tains. 
James Chamberlin, resigned Mav 

11,1863, 
Samuel Cuskaden. 

First Lieutenant. 
.1. P. S. Weidensaul. 

Second Lieutenaoits. 
Aaron Stoughton, 
William Pliillips. 

Sergeants. 
George W. Scott, died from wounds 

received at .Tames Island, South 

Carolina, July 3, 1864, 
Edward Zechman, 
Lot Trate, 
.Jacob Fetter, 
William J. Evans, 
.Jacob Getter, 
Joseph H. Pardoe, 
Michael Flaherty, 
Samuel Chalfanf, 
William Richardson, 
William Connelly, 
•Joseph R. Housei, 
B. F. Machamer, 
John McPherson, 
William A. Sober, 
James McBride, died at Wa.shing 

ton, D. C. 

Coo^porals. 
Joseph McCracken, 
Thomas INIackey, 
Enoch Rice, 
Martin Young, 
.John Tambler, 
James Campbell, 
.John Leidataeck, 
Elias K. Foust, 
Patrick Kearney, 



Peter Sheddel, 

Abraham Kauffman, 

Alexander J. Sober, 

Samuel Herman, 

Samuel Dolby, 

I. Dunkleberger, died June 4, 1862, 
of wounds, 

Charles A. Penny, died at Craney 
Island, Virginia, Sept. 25, 1862, 

Gotlieb Smaltzried, died at Morris 
Island, South Carolina, Septem- 
ber 6, 1863. 

Musicians. 
Henry Gallagher, died at White 

House, Virginia, June 15, 1862, 
Charles McGregor. 

Privates. 

Able, John, died at Annapolis, Ma- 
ryland, December 21, 1864, 

Baker, Peter, 

Barker, Henrj^, 

Balliett, John", 

Bennett, William H., 

Berkhiser, Isaac, 

Blake, Christopher, 

Blake, James, 

Bower, Wilson M., 

Bowers, James, 

Brocius, Gideon, 

Buck, Frederick, 

Burris, Henry H., 

Callahan, Michael, died at Ander- 
sonville, Georgia, September 27, 
1864—9,886, 

Carey, Archibald, died at Florence, 
South Carolina, November26, 1864, 

Chalfant, Samuel, 

Chappell, Ira, 

Chappell, George, 

Cogin, John, 



SS6 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Cornelison, John R., 

Cornelius, Jackson, 

Collins, George, 

Courtwright, P. W., died at Hilton 

Head, South Carolina, June 13, 

18G4, 
Banner, Samuel, 
Danne3% William, died at Florence, 

South Carolina, December 10, 1864, 
Dailey, John, 
Donachy, John, 
Doyle, John, 
Doyle, Thomas, 
Duck, Daniel, killed at Fair Oaks, 

May 31, 1862, 
Duryea, James, 
Emerick, Philip, 
Evans, Richard, 
Fadden, James, 
Fenstermacher, James, 
Fertig, John, 
Fisher, Peter, 
Foulds, Richard, 
Gahring, Charles, died at Florence, 

South Carolina, October 18, 1864, 
Geiger, Lewis, 
Gordon, George, 
Greiger, Jacob, 
Grey, William, 
Gross, Joseph, died at Washington, 

D. C, Jvme 19, 1862, 
^"^ Gunn, Jeremiah, 
Gooden, George, 
Hall, Henry, 
Hankey, John, 
Hankey, Frank, 
Heaton, John, 
Heimbach, Benjamin F., 
Heller, Jeremiah, 
Helwick, Andrew, 
Hensyl, Lot, 
Houtz, Austin S., 
Hufford, Lewis, 
Hunter, John, 
Irving, Abrani A., 
Jameson, Henry, 
Jarrett, Franklin, 
Jones, Daniel, 
Kinney, John, 
Kinter, Maurice, 
Kirsch, Frederick, 
Krider, Jacob, 
Krider, Daniel, 
KauiTman, Ab., 
Kearney, Patrick, 
Lemereaux, O. H., 
Lenhart, Henry, 
Lennard, James, 
Livengood, Abraham, 
Loch, Samuel, 
Long, Zephaniah, 



Long, Charles, 

Long, John F., 

Long, Isaac; 

Lupoid, Jeremiah, killed at Fort 

Henry, Tennessee, April 2, 1862, 
McGaniiel, Edward, killed at Fair 

Oaks, May 31, 1862, 
Martin, William, 
Martin, David, 
Messersmith, Jeremiah, 
Miller, William, 
Miller, Amzi W., died at Anderson- 

ville, Georgia, October 1, 1864, 
Minnier, Samuel, 
Moran, Patrick, 
Morrison, Michael, 
Moyer, Benjamin F., killed at Fair 

daks. May 31, 1862, 
Mussleman, John, died at Yorktown, 

Virginia, November 27, 1862, 
Musser, John, 
Nagle, Samuel, 
Neifert, Henry, 
O'Gara, Dominick, 
01 by, William L., 
Ott, Samuel, 
Owens, John H., 
Pell, Benjamin, died at Florence, 

South Carolina, October 21, 1864, 
Poeth, Henry C, 
Poole, Josiah, died September 23, 

1864, buried in Cypress Hill ceme- 

try. Long Island, 
Pooie, Gilbert, captured, died in 

Florence, South Carolina, August 

22, 1864, 
Price, William, 
Pifer, Elias F., 
Phillips, William, 
Pardoe, Joseph H., 
Rahmer, Charles, 
Ransom, Thomas D., 
Reed, Samuel, died July 1864, of 

wounds received at Fort Johnson, 

South Carolina, 
Renney, James B., died at Yorktown, 

Virginia, December 17, 1862, 
Richard, Charles, 
Richley, Frederick, 
Rorabach, Henry, 
Rutloss, Moritz 'C, 
Saunders, Sanmel, 
Slaeibelhood, Joseph, 
Smith, William H., 
Specht, Michael, died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, June 24, 1862, of wounds 

received at Fair Oaks, Virginia, 

May 31, 1862, 
Springer, Joseph, 
Sober, Salathiel, killed at Fair Oaks, 

May 31, 1862, 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



587 



Sober, Aaron, 

Staples, Nelson, captured, died at 

Florence, South Carolina, October 

20, 1864, 
Stapleton, Franklin, 
Stetler, Charles, 
Souder, Henry J., died at Florence, 

South Carolina, October 20, 1864, 
Trutt, David, 
Vertz, George W., 
Wagner, Josiah, 
Warner, Gideon, died at Florence, 

South Carolina, October 1, 1864, 



Wertz, Thomas, 

Wheat, John, 

Wheeler, Walter, 

Williams, Philip, 

Willis, David, died at Morris Island, 

South Carolina, August 31, 1864, 
Wilson, John, 
Womelsdorf, J., 
Woodward, G. W., 
Wright, Franklin, 
Wright, Charles, 
ZeUers. John, died at Florence, 

South Carolina, October 1, 1864. 



COMPANY E, FIFTY- THIRD REGIMENT. 

{Including only those froyn Buffalo Valley and vicinity.) 



Captains. 
Thomas Church, 
Beach C. Ammons, 
Daniel Art man. 

First Lieutenant. 
Henry F. Menges. 

Second Lieutenant. 
Albert H. Hess. 

First Sergeant. 
John R. Smith. 

Sergeants. 
William Ulrich, 
Joseph Hartley, 
David Davis, 
John Milsom. 

Corporals. 
William Parry, 
James Harvey, 
Archibald McPherson, 
William Byrne, 
Ezekiel Gilham, 
John McCollum, 
William Tovy. 

Musicians. 
Jacob Bingaman, 
Daniel Bingaman. 

Teamster. 
David Kohlen. 



Privates. 
Bingaman, Daniel J., 
Bingaman^ James, died at Annapo- 
lis, Maryland, December 20, 1864, 
Bvioy, Sylvester, 
Cushion, John, 
Davis, Thomas, 
Davis, Job, 
Dickison, Samuel, 
Druin, William, 
Getz, George, 
Hancock, Richard, 
Hancock, William, 
Hayden, James, 
Heinback, George, 
Hess, Isaac, 
Hess, Francis, 
Kaler, Jefferson, 
McCollum, William, 
McPherson, John, 
Marsh, Charles P., 
Oldfleld, John, 
Price, John, 
Rearick, Oliver, P., 
Sergeant, William, 
Slay man, Russel, 
Snyder, Samuel, 
Stevens, William, 
Thomas, William H., 
Tovy, Daniel, 
Ulrich, Eisle, 
Walters, Henry, C, 
Wiehr, David M. L. 



COMPANY A, ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST REGIMENT. 



Captains. 
Jacob Moyer, 
Joseph R. Orwig. 

First Lieutenant. 
Joseph Williaiu Kepler. 



Second Lieutenant. 
William Fitchthorn. 

Sergeants. 
Albert Barnes, • 
Forster Halfpenny, 



588 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Isaac Treat, 
Josiah Shriner, 
Henry Rotherinal. 

Corjoorals. 
George W. Fiester, 
Charles Worinan, 
Jacob Hower, 
Harrison Hater, 
Samuel S. Smith, 
William H. Weirick, 
Joel Kline, 
Henry Phillips, 
Nathaniel W. vStrahan. 

Musician. 

James Forrest. 

Privates. 

Aikey, William Henry, killed at 
Fredericksburg, Virginia, Decem- 
ber 13, 18f52, 

Burkliolder, William, 

Burkliolder, Lewis, 

Burkensfcock, H., 

Brant, Henry, 

Baldwin, Absalom, 

Brocius, Isaac, 

Bordner, William, 

Cauliflower, William, 

Charles, Sturger, 

Collins, Peter, 

Cornelius, Washington, 

Crisswell, William, 

Dennis, Phares, 

Devine, Peter, 

Diehl, Henry Calvin, 

Dollard, William, 

Dresher, William, 

Fiester, John Uhl, 

Foltz, Martin, 

Foster, Andrew, 

Glover, John W., 

Grove, G. Samuel, 

Hansel man, David, 

Harris, Jolm, 

Hartley, Elias, 

Hayes, Jaixies C, 

Henry, William G., 

Huff, George, 

Huff, John, 



Hultsizer, Jesse, died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, November 10, 1862. 

Katherman, Joseph, 

Katherman, Isaiali, 

Kline, Charles, 

Kline, George, 

Kline, Henry Charles, 

Laird, Samuel H., 

Lashells, George W., killed at Fred- 
ericksbui-g, Virginia, December 
13, 1862. 

Lenhart, David, 

Leib, Emanuel, 

Ludwig, George, 

McPherson, Archibald, 

Markle, John, 

Maxwell, Archibald, 

Meyers, Daniel B., 

Miller, Harry, 

Moyer, George W., 

Newman, Lewis, 

Rarer, John, 

Reed, G. Thompson, 

Reed, John, 

Richards, Christian, 

Rorabaugh, James A., 

Rossman, William, 

Rote, Joseph, 

Sanders, George L., 

Schnee, Peter, 

Schuck, Thomas L., 

Shaffer, Milton, 

Showalter, Samuel, 

Smith, Sylvester, 

Snyder, William A., 

Snyder, William W., 

Snyder, Emanuel, killed at Fred- 
ericksburg, Virginia, December 
13, 1862, 

Solomon, Henry C, 

Sommers, Jeremiah, 

Sonniiers, Oliver, 

Stees, Henry George, killed at Fred- 
ericksburg, Virginia, Dec. 18, 1862. 

Swartz, John, 

Taylor, William A., 

Wertz, William, 

Wilson, Frank, 

Winegarden, J. A., 

Wise, Charles, 

Zechman, M. Calvin. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



In Battery JE, First Artillery — 

Forty-third Regiment. 
Captain Tliomas G. Orwig. 
First Lieutenant Benj. M. Orwig. 

In Company F, One Hundred and 

Thirteenth — Twelfth Cavalry. 
First Lieutenant David A. Irwin. 



Second Lieutenant Henry E. Gii- 
telius. 

Company F, Fifty-sixth Pennsyl- 
vania. 
Second Lieutenant George W. Guil- 
din. 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



589 



COMPANY E, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 



Captains. 
John A. Owens, 
Charles R. Evans. 

First Lieutenants. 
Andrew O. Tucker, died July 5, of 
wounds received at Gettysburg, 
July 1, 1863. 
Isaac S. Kerstetter. 

Sergeants. 
Scott Clingan, 
Alfred Hayes, 
Samuel Brown, 
John V. Miller, 
Reuben B. Fessler, 
Thomas P. Wagner, 
Thomas R. Orwig, died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, November 30, 1862. 

Corporals. 

Isaac J. Kerstetter, 

Isaac F. Brown, 

John Gellinger, 

Benjamin W. Minium, 

Henry C. Penny. 

John H. Martin,' 

William Keifer, 

Nathaniel Strahan, 

Henry M. Specht, 

Jacob H. Rank, died, June 1, of 
wounds received at Spottsylvania 
Court House, Virginia, May 12, 
1864. ^ > J , 

Samuel Moyer, killed at Fredericks- 
burg, Virgmia, December 13, 1862. 

Musicians. 

William Geibel, 

Hunter B. Barton. 

Privates. 

Ammon, W^illiam L., 

Armagast, Peter, killed at Freder- 
icksburg, Virginia, December 13, 
1862, 

Baker, George, 

Boope, Geoz-ge E., 

Boyer, Solomon, 

Campbell, Reuben, 

Deibert, John P., killed at CatJett's 
Station. Virginia, November 30, 
1863, 

Dellinger, John S., killed at Freder- 
icksburg, Virginia, December 13, 
1862, 

Donachy, William L., 

Fangboner, Theodore, 

Farley, John, 

Fees, "David, 



Fetter, David, died of wounds re- 
ceived at Fredericksburg, Vir- 
ginia, December 13, 1862, 

Fetter, Adam, 

Fullmer, William H., 

Gellinger, Jackson, 

Gilboney, Jacob B., 

Gundy, James P., 

Hartman, Har'n R., 

Hofl'man, Noah, 

Hoffman, John, 

Hoffman, Henry W., 

Hoffman, Solomon B., 

Houghton, Thomas, 

Jamison, David, died of wounds re- 
ceived at Fredericksburg, Vir- 
ginia, December 13, 1862, 

Kline, John, died of wounds receiv- 
ed at Wilderness, Virginia, Mav 
6, 1864, 

Kling, John, died at Acquia creek, 
January 22, 1863, 

Koser, William, died at Warren- 
ton, Virginia, November, 1862, 

Koser, Uriah, 

LeFevre, Frank P., 

Lenhart, Jacob, 

McBride, Daniel, 

Marr, James, 

Martin, Henry, died at Sharpsburg, 
Maryland, "November 24, 1862, 
buried in National cemeterj^, An- 
tietam — section 26, lot B, grave 224, 

Martin, Daniel, died of wounds re- 
ceived at Fredericksburg, Vir- 
ginia, December 13, 1862, 

Minium, John A., 

Morris, A. Judson, 

Moser, Jacob, killed at Cold Harbor, 
Virginia, June 1, 1864, 

Moser, Jeremiah, died of wounds re- 
ceived at Fredericksbvirg, Vir- 
ginia, December 13, 1862, 

Moyer, John N., 

Moyer, Levi H., died of wounds re- 
ceived at Fredericksburg, Vir- 
ginia, December 13, 1862, 

Pontius, Henry B., 

Raboss, John, 

Raboss, Henry, killed, March 24, 
1865, 

Rank, Samuel, 

Reichley, George, 

Reish, George, 

Renner, William, L., 

Renner, Levi, died at Richmond, 
Virginia, Febuary 23, 1863, of 
wounds received at Fredericks- 
burg, Virginia, December 13, 1862, 



SPO 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Root, David, died at Gettysburg, 

Pennsylvania, July 3, 1863, 
Sechler, William R., 
Shafl'er, Jeremiah, 
Shields, William, 
Sho waiter, John W., 
Smith, Henry M., 
Smith, Henry C, 
Smith, Michael, 
Sraham, James C, 
Sortman, Daniel, 

Stapleton, George, died, July 26, of 
. wounds received at Gettysburg, 

Pennsylvania, July 1, 1863, 
Steinmetz, Philip, 



Stettler, Henry, died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, October 12, 1862, burial 
record, October 7, 1864, buried in 
Military Asylum cemeterj^, 

Stitzer, Samuel, died at Washington, 
D. C, May 30, of wounds received 
at North Anna river, Virginia, May 
23, 1864, buried in National ceme- 
tery, Arlington, 

Stuck, Henry, died of wounds re- 
ceived at Fredericksburg, Virginia, 
December 13, 1862, 

Wilson, Robert M., 

Wolfe, Emanuel, 

Wolfe, William H., 

Wynn, Thomas. 



COMPANY D, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH REGIMENT. 



Captains, 
Henry W. Crotzer, 
William P. Dougal, 
Roland Stoughton, died May 27, of 

wounds received at Wilderness, 

Virginia, May 5, 1864, 
John H. Harter, 
S. H. Himmelwright. 

First Lieutenant. 
John A. Hauck. 

Second Lieutenants. 
Samuel G. Gutelius, 
James Cummings. 

Sergeants. 
Samuel C. Ranson, 
Samuel Kerstetter, 
James W. Marshall, 
Charles A. Frey, 
John Stennert, 

Ellas B. Weidensaul, killed at Get- 
tysburg, July 1, 1863. 

Coi-porals. 

Albert Forster, 

Howard Ritter, 

Samuel Ruhl, 

Amos Browand, 

William Eberhart, 

George L. Murray, 

John Donachy, 

John M. Hunt, 

George W. Barkdoll, 

William E. Hennings, killed at 
Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, 

Joseph B. Ruhl, killed at Gettys- 
burg, July 1, 1863, 

William Donachy, killed at Laurel 
Hill, Virginia, May 8, 1864, 



Ephraim Campbell, died at Wash- 
ington, D. C, November 10, 1864, 

Joseph J. Gutelius, killed at Get- 
tysburg, July 1, 1863. 

Musician. 
Abraham Kuhn,died at Washington, 
D. C, December 21, 1862. 

Privates. 

Ammon, Aaron, 

Bird, John S., 

Breyman, Mahlon, 

Browand, Henry,* 

Brian, Michael, 

Boyer, Jacob, 

Buoy, Charles S., 

Chambers James M., 

Deal, Adam, 

Deal, Henry, 

Deal, John, died of wounds received 
at Hatcher's Run, Virginia, Feb- 
ruary 5, 1865, 

Eberhart, Abrahain, 

Eberhart, .James, 

Eisenhaur, Isaac, 

Erdey, Simon, 

Fees, Henry A., killed at Gettys- 
burg, July 1, 1863. 

Fillman, Jacob, 

Foust, Simon E., 

Fox, John F., 

Garrett, Edward, 

Grove, Peter, 

Gutelius, Fisher, 

Gutelius, Charles H., 

Hafer, John, 

Hassenplug, S. F., 

Hauck, Ammon L., 

Hoffrnaster, B., 

Hottenstein, D. R., 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



59^ 



Hursh, William, 

Kaler, John, 

Keifer, Henry M., 

Knittle, James, 

Lashells, Wilson, 

Linn, Isaac, 

Linn, Abraham, died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, November 10, 1862, 

Lucas, James, killed at AVilderness, 
Virginia, May 7, 1864, 

McFa'dden, E. A., killed at Gettys- 
burg, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1863, 

Mader, Charles E., 

Malehom, Simon, 

Master, Henrj^, 

May, John, killed at Gettysburg, 
July, 1, 1863, 

Miller, William R., killed at Gettys- 
burg, July 1, 1863, 

Nagie, Samuel, 

Neese, Jacob, 

Oberdorf, George F., 

Paige, David, 



Paul, Samuel W., 

Pick, Nathan, 

Putzman, Jacob D., 

Reedy, Joel, 

Sarba, John, 

Seamen, Jonathan, 

Sedam, Jolm, died at Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, January 2, 1864. 

Shaffer, Edwin, died at Elmira, 
New York, March, 22, 1865. 

Shell, Jacob, 

Smith, Hiram, 

Stahl, Peter S., 

Stable, William, 

Stitzer, William, 

Stoutz, Milton J., 

Trout Frank F., 

Wirth, Calvin, 

Wittenmj^er, Henry, 

Weiser, George W., 

Wolfe John, 

Zellers, Isaac. 



ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOURTH REGIMENT. 



Lieut. Colonel Charles Kleckner, 
George W. Kleckner, Com. Sergt., 
Charles E. Haus, Sec. Lieut. Co. I, 



Corporal John L. Strong, 
Charles Crotzer. 



TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, EMERGENCY TROOPS. 



Field and Staff. 

Colonel James Chamberlin, 
Lieut. Colonel John McCleery, 
Quatermaster Thompson G. Evans, 
Surgeon George Lotz, 
Quar. Sergeant Samuel H. Orwig, 

Company A. 

Captain Thomas R. Jones, 
First Lieutenant David M. Nesbit, 
Second Lieut. Charles S. James, 
First Sergeant Owen P. Eaches. 
Sergeant Benjamin F. Cox, 
" John B. Hutton, 
" Ross Ward, 
" Robert A. Townsend. 
Corporal John G. Blair, 
" John Ritner, 
" David McDermond, 
" Joseph R. Frederick, 
" Henry H. Witmer, 
" Harrison B. Garner, 
" Joseph H. Shepperd, 
" Henry C. Wolf. 
Musician Frederick E. Bower, 
*' George D. Kin cade. 



Privates. 
Barnhart, Daniel W., 
Bobb, Peter G., 
Brensinger, George J., 
Bowman, George, 
Case, William W., 
Cook, jr., A slier, 
Curtis, John W., 
Colvert, Edwin, 
Donachy, John A., 
Derr, Frank C, 
Fegley, George, 
Gebhart, David, 
Gessler, Theodore A. K., 
Giddings, Nathaniel, 
Gill, Thomas A., 
Grier, Henry F., 
Hall, George C, 
Hess, Jacob W., 
Hill, Eleazer E., 
Hutson, John S., 
Henderson, Henry J., 
James, Jacob D., ' 
Johnson, Jesse Z., 
Krape, Antis, 
Leas, David P., 
Lotz, Galen H., 



S9^ 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Looinis, Freeman, 
Low, Clement B., 
Leinbach, James C, 
Martz, ('xeorge O., 
Maul, Webster R., 
Mettler, Charles W., 
Munro, Henry C, 
Overliolt, John J., 
Phillips, Thomas E., 
Probasco, John B., 
Read, David E., 
Read, Jesse J., 
Read, Oliver J., 
Ranney, Edwin H., 
Runyan, William H., 
Spratt, Orlando W., 
Stef)liens, Leroy, 
Shanafelt, Thomas W., 
Stone, Charles A., 
Schwartz, John J. W., 
Startzle, Franklin P., 
Shaffer, Edward H., 
Straw, Robert C, 
Small, Thomas J., 
Smith, Joseph R., 
Truitt, jr., George W., 
Vanvalzah, Robert, 
Winterbottom, William, 
Wolf, Jacob C, 
Wolverton, William J., 
Wynn, Isaac C, 
Yeager, Peter. 

Co'mpany D. 

Captain Charles C. Shorldey. 

First Lieutenant Josiah Kellj-. 

Second Lieut. Samuel D. Bates, 

Fii-st Sergeant Samuel W. Murray, 

Sergeant William L. Nesbit, 
" Jacob Neyhart, 
" Jacob K, Mertz, 
" Sylvan us G. Bennett. 

Corporal George W. Cornelius, 
" Daniel Meyers, 
" William T. Leinbach, 
" Daniel Brown, 
" Thomas Shoemaker, 
" George B. Miller, 
" William Myers, 
" Isaac Wagner. 

Musician Edward McGregor. 

Privates. 
Brooks, David, 
Bay, Franklin, 
Bans, Sanuiel, 
Balliet, John W., 
Betzer, John H., 
Barton, Bright Henry, 
Crites, William K., 
Cornelius, Edward, 



Cornelius, Zacheus, 
Chappel, Zacheus, 
Collins, Peter, 
Cowley, William H., 
Dull, George, 
Dunkle, Charles C, 
Donachy, William O., 
Donahower, Franklin, 
Eyer, John, 
Frain, John A., 
Fornwalt, John H., 
Goodman, Abraham H., 
Gussler, Isaiah, 
Giffin, Samuel M., 
Heitsman, Henry, 
Heitsman, Jacob, 
Herr, James E., 
Howard, Thomas, 
Howard, John, 
Hess, John R., 
Irwin, John F., 
Kelley, James W., 
Loomis, William A., 
Lokas, William, 
Lilley, Alfred, 
Murphy, Howard W., 
Murty, James, 
Munson, Salman D., 
Mowry, Abraham, 
Meixell, P., 
Meixell, Ziba, 
Mench, John, 
McFadden, Theodore, 
Pennj^, Hugh H., • 
Paul, George, 
Pross, George, 
Pierce, Amariah H., 
Reber, Samuel, 
Rossell, William R., 
Reber, Edward M., 
Rearick, Oliver P., 
Reed, Howard W., 
Straub, Elisha, 
Slifer, Alfred, 
Stuck, Samuel, 
Slear, Jonathan W., ^ 
Stitzer, John D., 
Solomon, Charles E., 
Winegarden, John A., 
Wetzel, Conrad, 
Washeliskei, William H., 
Washeliskei, George, 
Williams, Benjamin H., 
Wagner, Joseph H., 
Zechman, George W., 

Company F. 
Captain George W. Forrest, 
First Lieutenant Andrew H. Dill, 
Second Lieutenant James Hayes, 
First Sergeant David B, Nesb'it, 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



593 



Sergeant William Ginter, 
" Lorenzo D. Brewer, 
" AdolphusA. Kaufman, 
" William H. Nesbit. 

CorporalJ. Henry Brown, 
" John W. Brown, 
" Richard Dye, 
" Theodore Taylor, 
" Joseph M. Housel, 
" Samuel F. Gvindy, 
" Thomas Ritner, 
" Edward H. Richards. 

Musician James Forrest, 
" Jacob H. Worth. 

Privates. 
Baldwin, Absalom, 
Beck, Samuel, 
Bell, Allen, 
Bently, Frank, 
Bower, William D., 
Brown, William F., 
Cathcart, Robert M., 
Derr, George P., 
Dotts, David H., 
Dill, M. Reese, 



Dclby, Abraham, 
Donachy, Tliompson, 
Hughes, George, 
Imhoff, William H., 
Kennedy, William, 
Long, Jacob, 
Loudenslager, William, 
Marsli, Charles, 
Miller, J. Howard, 
Muriahy, Joseph, 
Nesbit, Alvin, 
Pardee, Samuel I., 
Paul, Peter G., 
Poeth, George M., 
Rank, Lemuel, 
Reese, John S., 
Simonton, John W., 
Smithers, Benjamin F., 
Smitli, Jacob M., 
Search, William, 
Stoughton, Frank, 
Vincent, Jolm, 
Walker Edward, 
Wertz, C. C, 
Wallace, John D., 
Zentmeyer, Peter. 



TWO HUNDRED AND SECOND REGIMENT. 



Lieutenant Colonel John A. Maus, 
Surgeon S. Carson McCormick. 

Company I. 
Captain Jacob Neyliart, 
First Lieutenant Jacob H. Brown, 
Sec. Lieut. George Y. McLaughlin, 
First Sergeant John B. Ritner, 
Sergeant William P. Allen, 
" James P. Gundy, 
" Samuel S. Rank, 
" George H. Gressinger. 
Corporal Enos Zentmeyer, 
«' Joseph C. Dull, 
" John W. Brown, 
" Samuel S. Hess, 
" George Himmerdinger, 
" Henry S. Dewey, 
" John M. Brown, 
" Zacheus Cornelius. 
Musician Cameron McGregor. 

Privates. 
Becher, Amos G., 
Becher, William, 
Bently, John, 
Bogart, Hosea, 
Bogart, Joseph, 
Bower, Francis, 
Brintzehofif, C, W., 
Brobst, John, 

38 



Brown, William W., 
Chappel, Sheller, 
Chappel, Charles, 
Chappel, Charles W., 
Cleaver, Jesse, 
Cornelius, Jesse M., 
Cornelius, Andrew M., 
Dennis, Levi, 
Dickey, Lester P., 
Difienderfer, D. A., 
Elce, Jonathan F., 
Ellis, James S., 
Engie, Jacob, 
Engleman, Elias, 
Eveland, James, 
Everet, John, 
Fahnestock, H. M., 
Fesler, John H., 
Fetter, Cyrus, 
Fisher, Jared, 
Fisher, Jolm H., 
Fisher, Paul, 
Flick, Charles W., 
Gebhart, Henry G., 
Good, Haram, 
Gossness, Joseph W., 
Ginter, William, 
Gussler, Isaiah, 
Hann, James R.,. 
Hann, David, 
Hawkenberry, J. D., 



594 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



\ 



Haynes, John, 
Heister, Jacob, 
Hess, Joseph, 
Hester, Henry, 
Hooveman, James, 
Huff, Daniel, 
Huff, James, 
Huff, John S,, • 
Huff; David, 
Hummel, Benjamin, 
Hummel, Frederick, 
Irwin, Henry, 
Jamison, senior, John, 
Jamison, Augustus B., 
Keener, John, 
Keyser, Jacob, 
Kint, George W., 
Kupp, John S., 
Landaw, William, 
Leonard, William, 
Leonard, Benjamin, 
Long, Peter, 
Lynn, Charles, 
Mathias, John A., 
Miller, Joseph P., 
Mowrer, Michael S., 
Nagie, Andrew, 
Newman, Daniel, 
Pierce, Amariah H., 

LIST OF SOLDIERS BURIED IN THE SEVERAL CEMETERIES 
IN UNION COUNTY. 



Platner, Lemuel J., 
Powers, Edward, 
Rank, Martin J., 
Rank, David, 
Rahrer, John, 
Reichley, Benjamin F., 
Reichley, William A., 
Reitmeyer, George E., 
Reitmeyer, D. K., 
Rohrabach, James, 
Sanders, Hiram, 
Sanders, Charles, 
Sanders, Henry W., 
Sanders, George L., 
Search, John B., 
Shannon, James, 
Shannon, William, 
Slear, David G., 
Smith, Jeremiah, 
Speece, David, 
Swartz, John, 
Taylor, Henry O., 
Trester, Martin, 
Wagner, Jesse H., 
Wertz, Henry, 
Williams, George, 
Young, Abraham, 
Young, James A. 



Mifflinburg. — Presbyterian Ceme- 
tery. 
Clapham, Thomas H., 
Rissel, David H. 

Old Grave-yard. 
Edleman, Elias, 
Mattis, Henry, 
Musser, Robei-t, 
Oberdorf, George, 
Schreck, Jacob. 

Netv Cemetery. 
Durst, John H., 
Forster, Wilson, 
Montelius, W. P., 
Orwig, Benjamin M., 
Reish, Daniel K., 
Smith, Levi H., 
Smith, Hiram, 
Steadman, Dr. H. C. 

White Deer Church Cem,etery. 
Deibert, John P., Co. E, 142d, 
Dersham, John S., Co. A, 199th, 
FoUmer, William, H., Co. E, 142d. 

Buffalo Cross-Roads. 
Lashells, George W., Co. A, 131st, 
McGee, Isaac G., Co. E, 51st. 



Union Church Cemetery. 
Fetter, Jacob, Co. D, 52d, 
Moyer, John W., 142d, 
Richard, Edward A., Co. K, 51st. 

Dreisbaeh Church. 
Bowersox, Henry, 51st, 
Dunkle, James M., Co. E, 51st, 
Eachus, John F., 
Wolfe, William H., Co. E, 142d. 

Lewisburg Cemetery. 

Arey, William R., Orderly Sergt., 
Co. F, 24th U. S. C. T. Died Feb- 
ruary 19, 1871. 

Arey, Milton, Co. A, 43d U. S. C. T. 
Died October 14, 1867. 

Bennett, William A., Hospital Stew- 
ard, 14th U. S. Infantry. Died 
November 28, 1869. 

Brooks, John, Co. F, 49th Pa. 

Cameron, James, Col. 79th N. Y. 
Highlanders. Killed in battle of 
Bull Run, July 21, 1861. 

Chappel, Zacharv, Co. B, 5th Pa. 
Res. Cor. Died April 6, 1865. 

Cornelius, Jackson, Co. D, 52d Pa. 
Died June 5, 1867. 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



595 



Cox, William Franklin, Sergt., Bat. 
K, 2cl Pa. Heavy Art. Died July 
9, 1866, from disease contracted 
while a prisoner at Anderson villa, 
Georgia. 
Dewire, Alexander, Co. E, 51st. 

Derr, John H., Co. G, 4th Fa. Vol. 
Died August 15, 1861, from disease 
contracted whUe in service. 

Dickey, Lester P., Co. I, 202d Pa. 
Vol. Died August 29, 1870. 

Dodge, Edward K., Surgeon, U. S. 
Navy. Promoted Surgeon, De- 
cember 21, 1869. Died March 29, 
1871. 

Eccleston, Charles, First Lieutenant, 
Heavy Artillery. 

Evans, Charles R., Captain, Co. E, 
142d Pa. Vol. Died September 23, 
1867. 

Graham, Henry Spyker, Sergeant, 
Co. F, 2d Pa. Cav. Died August 
28, 1868. 

Gussler, John A., Co. C, 161st N. T. 
Vol. Died July 27, 1871. 

Ireland, John W., Co. D, 5th Pa. Res. 
Cor. Died October IS, 1862. 

Kennedy, William M., Co. E, 208th 
Pa. Vol. Died at City Point, Va., 
April 15, 1865, from wounds re- 
ceived before Petersburg, Virginia, 
April 2, 1865. 

Knox, John H., Captain, Co. D, 11th 
Pa. Vol. Died at Jersey Shore, 
Pa., February 28, 1862. 

Lenhart, Henry, Co. D, 52dPa. Vol. 
Died November 28, 1864. 

Lenhart, Benjamin, Co. I, 202d. 

McBride, James, Sergeant, Co. D, 
52d Pa. Vol. Died at Washington, 
December 1, 1861. 

McFadden, Theodore H., First Lieut. 
Co. D, 5th Pa. Res. Cor. Wounded 
in battle of New Market Cross- 
Roads, Jime 30, 1862. Died Jan- 
uary 29, 1870. 

McGregor, Charles, Musician, Co. D, 
51st Pa. Vol. Died March 4, 1866. 

Milsom, John, Sergeant, Co. E., 53d 
Pa. Vol. Died at Annapolis, Md., 
December 30, 1864. 

Murphy, Edward H., with construc- 
tion train, 5th N. Y. Vol. Died 
February 9, 1870. 

Penny, Charles A., Corporal, Co. 
D, 52d Pa. Vol. Died at Craney 
Island, Va., Se]3tember 25, 1862. 

Phillips, William L., Lieutenant, 
Co. D, 52d Pa. Vol. Died at Cham- 
bersbm-g, Pa., January 5, 1872. 

Rohrabach, James H., Co. H, 131st. 



Schaffle, Joseph J., Co. H, 90th Pa. 
Vol. Died at Washington, D. C, 
January 12, 1863, from a wotmd 
received in battle of Fredericks- 
burg, Va., December 13, 1862. 

Schaftie, F. S., Co. E, 51st. 

Stapleton, George, Co. E, 142d Pa. 
Vol. Died July 26, 1863, from a 
wound received at Gettysburg 
July 1, 1863. 

Stoughton, Roland, Captain, Co. D. 
150th Pa. Vol. Died May 24, 1864. 

Tucker, Andrew G., First Lieut. Co. 
E, 142d Pa. Vol. Killed in battle 
at Gettj'sburg, July 1, 1863. 

Van Gezer, George, Co. H, 51st Pa. 
Vol. Died November 16, 1870. 

Wertz, John H., Co. G, 4th Pa. Vol. 
Died May 28, 1862. 

Wetzel, Conrad. Died October 20, 
1866, from disease contracted while 
in service. 

Wilkes, Noall, Co. D, 5th Pa. Res. 
Cor. Died September 7, 1861. 

Young, Peter, Co. I, 192d Pa. Vol. 
Died January 6, 1869. 

Zimmerman, William, Co. E, 51st 
Pa. Vol. Died August 3, 1866. 

Buried at Various Places. 

Ammon, Levi H., Corporal, Co. E, 
51st Pa. Vol. Killed in Wilder- 
ness battle, May 6, 1864. 

Arey, Barton, Co. A, 43d U. S. C. T. 
Wounded before Petersburg, Va., 
and taken to hospital at David's 
Island, where he died and was 
buried. 

Baldwin, Absalom, Co. K, 51st Pa. 
Vol. Captured and died at Ander- 
sonville, Ga., September 24, 1864. 

Beaver, J. Gilbert, First Lieut., Co. 
H, 51st Pa. Vol. Buried at Mil- 
ler stowu, Pa. 

Dentler, Henry G., Corporal, Co. K, 
51st Pa. Vol. Captured and died 
at AndersonviUe, Ga., May 17, 
1864— grave 1,161. 

Donachy, William, Corporal, Co. D, 
150th Fa. Vol. Killed in battle at 
Laurel Hill, Va., May 8, 1864. 

Dull, George N., Co. K, 51st Pa. Vol. 
Died from disease, at Alexandria, 
Va., September 19, 1864. Buried 
there— grave 2,683. 

Evans, Edwin A., Captain, Battery 
D, 3d Pa. Heavy Art. Died, in 
Philadelphia, April 30, 1872. Bu- 
ried at New Britain, Bucks Co., 
Pa. 



59(> 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Ficlithorn, James, Sergeant, Co. D, 
5th Pa. Res. Cor. Mvistered June 
5, 1861. Died between the 11th 
and Kith of Febrviary, 1865, at 
Salisbuiy, North Carolina. 

Gallagher, Henry, Musician, Co. D, 
52d Pa. Vol. Died at White 
House, Va., June 15, 1862. 

Gibson, James, Sergeant, Co.K, 51st. 
Killed in front of Petersburg, Va., 
July 30, 1864. 

Green, William Cameron, private, 
Co. D, Fifth Pa. Res. Cor. Pro- 
moted Second Lieutenant in First 
United States Infantry, Sei^tem- 
ber 27, 1861. Afterward promoted 
to Captain in First United States 
Infantry. Died on board ship, Oc- 
tober 3, 1867. 

Grier, Thomas G., Co. H, 51st Pa. 
Vol. Died with yellow fever, at 
Morehead City, N. C, October 6, 
1864. Buried there, 

Kelly, James A., Co. H, 51st Pa. 
Vol. Died at Roanoke Island, N. 
C, March 27, 1862. 

Ludwig, Jared R., Co. K, 51st Pa. 
Vol. Absent at muster out ; sujd- 
posed to have been killed in bat- 
tle or captured and died while a 
prisoner. 

McFadden, Edward A., Co. D, 150th 
Pa. Vol. Killed at Gettysburg, 
Pa., July 1, 1863. 

Mensch, Jolm, Co. F, 49th Pa. Vol. 
Killed at Spottsylvania Court- 
House, Va., May 10, 1864. 

Miller, Samuel E., Co. I, 1st Pa. 
Killed in battle at Fredericks- 
burg, Va., December 13, 1862. 



Musser, .John D., Lieutenant Col- 
onel. Mustered as Major of 143d 
Pa. Vol., October 18, 1862. Pro- 
moted to Lieutenant Colonel June 
2, 1863. Killed in battle of Wild- 
erness, May 6, 1864. Buried at 
Muncy, Pa. 

Piper, William, Co. H, 56th Pa. Vol. 
Killed in battle of Si)ottsylvania, 
Va., May — , 1864. 

Potter, Thomas, Corporal, Battery 
xV, 1st Pa. Art. Killed in battle at 
Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862. 

Reed, Daniel M., Corporal, Co. G, 
50th Pa. Vol. Killed at Chantilly, 
Va., September 1, 1862. 

Schaffle, Charles D., Captain, Co. 
D, 5th Pa., Res. Cor. Wounded 
and taken prisoner in battle of 
Fredericksburg, Va., December 
13, 1862, and died in Richmond, 
Va., January 31, 1863. 

Sedam, John, Co. D, 150th Pa. Vol. 
Taken prisoner, and died at Rich- 
mond, Va., January 2, 1864. 

Smaltzried, Gotlieb, Corporal, Co. 
D, 52d Pa. Died at Morris Island, 
S. C, September 6, 1863. 

Sterner, Frank B., Captain, Co. K, 
51st. Killed at Spottsylvania 
Court-House, Va., May 12, 1864. 

Weidensaul, Elias 13., Second Lieu- 
tenant, Co. D, 150th Pa. Vol. 
Killed in battle of Gettysburg, 
Pa., July 1, 1863. 

Wertz, Harrison, Co. D. 5th Pa. Res. 
Cor. KUled in battle of Freder- 
icksburg, Va., December 13, 1862. 

Wilson, Robert M., Died August 19, 
1867. Buried at Norfolk, Va. 



INDEX. 



Abolition lecture, 527 

Aborigines of the Valley, 6 

Academy, Lewisburg, 546 

" building of University, ground broken for, . . 548 

Accidents, 439,492,496,512,514,525,526 

Adams, Reverend John Dietrich, ■•.... 369 

Agricultural, Union, association formed, 501 

fairs, 501,555 

" society, Union county, 528,554 

" " " " awards of committees, 528 

Albright, Honorable Andrew, sketch of, 457 

Allen family inurdered, 188 

Allison, Archibald, narrative of, 173 

Allummapees, King of the Delawares, 20 

Anti-Mason ticket formed, 501 

Anthony, Joseph B., holds court at Sunbury, 543 

Armstrong, Colonel John, surveys of, , . 9,19 

Associators, list of companies of, 90 

" officers chosen, 90,119 

" brigadier general elected, 99 

Associate Reforiued Church, 448 

Attorneys admitted, 42 , 

44,89,151,235,241,418,495,501,513,524,534,540,542,546 

'' list of 494 

Aui-and, Reverend John Dietrich, 152,199,284 

Aurand's hotel burned, 533 

Ayers killed, .• 157 

Bacon, Elijah, visits Valley, 400,495 

Bald Eagle creek declared a highway, 36 

Banks, act regulating, passed, 417 

" suspended, 442,534 

" card of directors of Northumberland, 534 

Baptist settlers, 283 

Bar, peculiarities of the 481 

Barber, Robert, builds at White Spring, 48,269 

Barnes, Reverend W. H. H., 544 

Barton, Kimber, 325 

Bashor, John Michael, killed, 157 

Baskins, Honorable John, resigns and removes, . . . . ' 540 

Battalion drill at Lewisburg, 550 

Baum, Samuel R., appointed postmaster, 552 

Bear's mills erected, 232 

Beaver run, 7 

" township, residents of, 258,270,284,319 

597 



598 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Bellas, Esquire, Hugh, 365 

Berlin iron-works, first metal made at, 545 

" " " blown out, 549 

Bickle, Henry, killed, 201 

Billman, Dewalt, notice of, 450 

Billmyer, Andrew, tavern of, 243,252 

Bingaman, Frederick, death of, 545 

Black Ann, whipped, 194 

Blythe, William, notice of, 25 

Boatman, Mrs. Claudius, killed, 211 

Boat-vard removed to Lewisburg, 551 

Boone, Captain Hawkins, 52,107,123,166,178 

Boude family, notice of, 258 

Bower, George, notice of, 450 

Boy killed near Gundy's mill, 213 

Boyd family, notice of, 143 

Boyer, Jacob K., convicted, 497 

Brady, Captain John, 98,143,165,166 

" " " killed, 168,220,225 

" James, killed, 164,225 

" Mrs. Mary, death of, 219 

" family reminiscences of, 219 

" Captain Samuel, 81,143,219 

"■ " " kills Bald Eagle, 175 

" " " adventuresof, 227 

" " " death of, 280 

" General Hugh, 219 

" John, (sheriff,) 226 

" Lieutenant Samuel, at Chippewa, 419 

" " " letter to Captain Vincent, 419 

Brandy wine, battle of, 143 

Bridge, Northumberland built, 406,438 

" " carried away, 546 

" Lewisburg chartered, 417 

" " supplement to charter, 433 

" " built, 438 

" Limestone' run, carried away, 437 

" HarrisbuTg, . 438 

" " portion of, carried away, 546 

" at mouth of Buffalo creek built, 378 

" " " " " " carried away, 548 

" new " " " " 552 

" Milton, injm-ed by flood, 546 

" at Duncan's Island, carried away, 546 

Brinton, Joseph, notice of, 449 

Brobst, Jacob, 435 

Bockenor, Isaac, accident to, 496 

Brodhead'sregiment, Eighth Pennsylvania, two soldiers of, killed, . . 163 

Brown, Jonathan, 449 

" Eleanor, 246 

" Matthew, death of, . 142 

" Michael, recollections of the people of the Valley, 341 

Buchanan, Honorable James, speaks at Milton, 544 

Buffalo creek, 7 

" " bridge built at mouth of, ■ . . 378 

Buffalo township erected, 42 

" " attempt to divide, 151 

67 ,148 ,181 ,194 ,'214 ,'236 ,'242 ,'244 ,'252 ,'258 ,'263 ,269 

Buffalo Cross-Roads church, 51,60,270,433,524 

" " " first hotel at, 318 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. sgg 



Buffalo, East and West, townships erected, 274 

" East, residents of, 278, 

283,294,317,323,326,332,337,340,353,355,370,379,386 

Buffalo, West, improvements, &g., 279 

" " stills in, 280 

" " residents of, 280, 

282 , 294 , 301 , 317 , 333 , 337 , 340 , 354 , 355 , 370 , 379 , 387 

Caderman, Jacob and Conrad, captured, 199 

California gold fever reaches Valley, 549 

" emigration to, 549 

Canal meeting 491 

" located, 495 

" let, 496 

" Lewisburg cross-cut, 496,508 

" " " " first boats through, 512 

" rates of freight on, 503 

Camp Potter organized, 544 

Camp-meeting, first Methodist, 354 

" '< 544 

Campbell, Captain, killed, 19£ 

" Daniel, notice of, 28] 

" . McDonald, notice of, 45( 

" John, " " 450 

Campleton, Captain Thomas, (Kemplin,) 165,174,17^' 

" killed, 19f 

earner, Anthony, notice of, 45(i 

Celebration, Fourth of July, 488,504,505,524,54- 

" " " toasts at, 52( 

" " " partisan toasts at, 52-; 

" " " accidents at, 52( 

Cemetery at Lewisburg, 54i' 

Census 1820, 44!- 

" 1830, 50: 

" 1840, 53' 

" 1850, 55; 

" 1860, 55' 

" 1870, 55'- 

Chamberlin, Colonel William, notice of, 44 

Chambers, James, killed, 18 

Chapman, Seth, acquitted, 48 

Chappel Hollow, alias Haverly's Gap, 7 

Chestnut Ridge, post office established at, 55 : 

Chilloway, Job, 14 

Chippewa, battle of, 41- 

Churches, notices of, 93,253,44- 

Church, Buffalo Cross-Roads Presbyterian, 51,60,231,250,27' 

" " " " new built 43, 

" " " " last sermon in 54' 

" Methodist, organized at Lewisburg, 40 ' 

" " new, at Lewisburg consecrated, 51 

" First Pastor German Reformed, 25 

" Baptist, effort to establish, 28' 

" Dreisbach, condition of, 32, 

" St. Peter's, in Kelly, buUt, 333,43. 

" Ray's, built, 33- 

" first Baptist, organized, 37' 

" " ■" pastors of, 37- 

" Baptist, at Lewisburg, 543,54 

" " " first sermon in new, 5A- 

" Emanuel's, at New Berlin, dedicated, 48'. 

" Associate Reformed, of Mifflinburg, organized 44 S 



6oo ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Church, Methodist, at New Berlin, dedicated, 437 

" Christian Cliapel at Lewisbiirg built, 441,555 

" " " " opened, 460 

" Bethel, organized, 504 

" Presbyterian, at Lewisburg, built, 505 

" " " first sermon in, 511 

" Laurelton, organized, 506 

" Union, German Reformed and Lutheran, subscription for 

starting, 512 

" Union, German Reformed and Lutheran, dedicated, .... 524 

" Laurel run, dedicated, 540 

" German Reformed, Pastor of, installed, 540 

" Lutheran, at Selinsgrove, 543 

" " and Reformed, in Buffalo townshif), dedicated, . . 534 

" Presbyterian, at New Berlin, 538,543 

" German Reformed, in Lewisburg, corner stone of, laid, . . . 547 

" " " " dedicated, 548 

* " " " pastor of, 551 

• ..t.k. Esquire, John, visits Lewisburg, 512' 

■ .i'k, George, surveyor, 122 

' ' -k, Walter, (fee, rnoves to Valley, 39- 

;-ke, Captain John, roll of his company, 121 

/, Henry, card of, in National Intelligencer, 472 

nens, Peter, 450 

igan, William, notice of, 457 

1, bituminous, received, and price of, 514 

hran, James, letter to Robert Irwin, 351 

3, Colonel Philip, 51 

d Friday, 526 

< ainbia Gazette, 416 

umbia guards en route to Mexico, flag presentation and return, . 547 

aiet visible, 898,455,479 

iomittee of Safety, minutes of, 99,127 

' nmittee men, lists of, 99,110,131 

idition of the Valley, 153 

" " " courtbusiness, 165 

iference, Albright and United Brethren 413 

' inecticut claim, 45,53,87 

"istitution of 1776, synopsis of 94 

. " United States, ratified, 251 

" 1790 adopted, 266 

■itributions for relief of distressed in Ireland and Scotland, .... 547 

' itroversy, railroad, . , ; 553 

ivention. Carpenter's Hall, 56 

1775, 65 

1776, 93 

" of associators, 99 

" constitutional, delegates to, 94,266,527 

" 1834, delegates to, 519 

" Anti-Masonic, '. . 519 

" Democratic, 521,540 

" temperance, at Lewisburg, 589 

" Whig, 540 

" railroad, at Baltimore, 553 

* ok, John, notice of, 451 

t oke. Colonel William, roster of regiment, 124,243 

' 'Oi^er, Honorable Thomas, 324,435 

-. '• )rnelius, Jesse, accident to, ; 512 

irruption story, Adams and Clay, 478 

' »ryell, George, 451 

>unterfeiters convicted, 497 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



6oi 



County lines, 448,505 

" seat, 

" division of, agitated, 

" Union, erected, 

" seat, vote for and against, 

" division of, vote for and against, 

Couples, David, Idlled, 

Court crier appointed, 

" business condition of, 

" to be held at New Berlin, 

" first cii-cuit, at New Berlin, 

" "in Northumberland countj^, 

*' " suits in, 

" " at Mifflinburg, 

" Supreme, middle district of, created, 

<' " ^jersoiJiic? of justices of, 

" " justices opinion of Jose i^h Ritner, 

Covenhoven, Robert, describes the Great Buna-way, 

" " " also that of 1779, 

Crawford county sj-stem introduced, 

Creeks, early names of 

Crooked Billet, Abraham Smith's story, 

Crotzerville post office established, 

Crotzer, Henry W., api^ointed postmaster, 

Dam built on Penn"s creek, 

" at Selin and Snyder's mill, 

Dancing partj^ at New Berlin, • ... 

Daguerreotypes first in the Valley, 

Day's Collections quoted, 143. 



Deaths — 

Adams, James, 354 

Albright, Jacob, 400 

Albright, Andrew, 457 

Allen, Samuel, 179 

Allison, Archibald, 174 

Alsbaugh, Margaret, .... 344 

Antes, Colonel Frederick, . . 330 

Aurand, Jacob, 256 

Aurand, John, 367 

Aurand, junior, John, . . . . 374 

Baldv, Susanna, 374 

BakeV, Wendell, 428 

Baker, John, ' 456 

Barber Samuel, 276 

Barber, Thomas, 188 

Barber, Sarah, 442 

Barn hart, George, 281 

Barnhart, Mathias, 293 

Baslior, John Micliael, . . . 156 

Beattv, Alexander, 243 

Bickel, Henry, 201 

Bingaman, Frederick, .... 545 

Bishop, John 417 

Black, John, ' 266 

Boal, John, 443 

Bockener, Isaac, 496 

Bolender, Henry, 296 

Bower, Casper, . 293 

Bowser, Peter, 436 

Boone, Captain, 177 

Boveard, James, 374 



Deaths — 

Brady, James, 

Brady, Captain John, .... 

Brady, John, 

Brown, Mathew, 

Brown, Eleanor, 

Brunner, Jacob, 

Bull, Mrs. Mary, 

Burns, Peter, 

Buttorf, Michael, 

Buyers, Captain WUliam F., 

Cameron, Charles, 

Campbell, Michael, 

Cami3bell, Daniel, 

Chambers, James, 

Chambers, Mary, 

Chamberlin, Colonel William, 

Christ, Adam, 

Clark, Robert, 

Clark, William, 

Clarke, Florence, 

Clarke, Colonel John, . . . 

Clemens, Elizabeth, 

Clingan, William, ..... 

Collins, Paul, 

Cornelius, Jesse, 

Cooke, Colonel William, . . 

Cook, John, 

Couples, David, 

Cramer, George, 

Dale, Honorable Samuel, . . 
Darraugh, Widow, 



,511 
18 
405 
412 
556 
556 
184 
448 
165 
429 
492 
42 
44 
418 
356 
498 
498 
156 
176 
554 
7 
152 
552 
555 
275 
275 
463 
546 
193 

164 
169 
374 
142 
142 
345 
400 
267 
345 
456 
428 
1.54 
281 
185 
311 
440 
374 
313 
416 
368 
385 
450 
457 
428 
512 
344 
452 
184 
400 
344 
512 



602 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Deaths — 

Daiigherty, Captain, .... 177 

Deal, Heniy, 417 

Denii^sey, Cornelius, .... 244 

Derr, Catherine, 243 

Derr, John, 547 

Douglass, William, 401 

Dow, Lorenzo, 314 

Dreisbach, Anna Eve, . . . 260 

Dreisbach, Martin, 320 

Dreisbach, Jacob, 345 

Dreisbach, Catherine, .... 430 

Dunkle, Catherine, 353 

Dunkle, Killian, 436 

Dunning, Samuel, 374 

Earne, Elizabeth, 374 

Egbert, Nicholas, 417 

Ellenkhusen, Mathias Joseph, 277 

Emerick, David, 201 

Etzweiler, George, ..... 185 

Evans, Nathan, 391 

Evans, Joseph, 400 

Evans, Evan Rice, 400 

Evans, Joseph, (Lewisburg,) 514 

Ewing, Jasper, 326 

Eyer, Catherine, 353 

Ferguson, James, 281 

Fisher John, 293 

Fleming, James, 277 

Follmer, Thomas, 546 

Follmer, Henry, 546 

Forster, junior, John, .... 239 

Forster, Thomas, 344 

Forster, Thomas, 390 

Forster, Captain John, . . . 243 

Foster, John, 234 

Fought, Jonas, 267 

Foutz, Mrs. Conrad, 494 

Fox, Andrew, 293 

Franklin, Daniel, 368 

Frantz, Lewis, 368 

- Frederick, George, 335 

Frederick, Jabel, (should be 

Jacob,) 353 

Freedly, John, 430 

Freeland, Elias, 176 

Freeland, j unior, Jacob, . . . 176 

Freeland, "senior, Jacob, . . . 176 

Frick, General Henry, . . . 543 

Fries, Rev. Just Henry, . . . 634 

Gabriel, George, 37 

Geary, John, 514 

Gebhart, Philip, 436 

Getz, Peter, 890 

Gift, Jacob, 170 

Gray, Lieut. Colonel Neigal, 244 

Gray, Captain William, . . . 431 

Gray, Sallie, and son, .... 527 

Graybill, John, 354 

Green, Margaret, 256 

Green, Joseph, 335 



Deaths — 

Green, Marv, 354 

Greenlee, William, 231 

Grier, Reverend Isaac, . . . 428 

Grogan, Charles, 267 

Groninger, Leonard, .... 256 

Gundy, William, 546 

Harris, Honorable William L., 546 

Hammond, General R. H., . 548 

Haney, Christopher, .... 266 

Hayes, John, 544 

Hayesj Mrs., 513 

Haves, William, 540 

Herrold, , 170 

Hetrick, Christian 208 

Himmelreich, Mary, .... 457 

Himrod, Simon, 235 

Hoge, Reverend John, . . . 368 

Holstein, George, 400 

Hood, Reverend, 549 

Hood, Mrs. Mary, 549 

Hoover, John, 436 

Housel, Martin, 353 

Housel, Captain William, . . 551 

Hiidson, George, 276 

Hunter, Colonel Samuel, . . 234 

Hunter, Alexander, 390 

Huston, Matthew, 385 

Hutchinson, Mary, 385 

Iddings, Eve, 345 

Iddings, Henry, 443 

Irvine, William, 297 

Irwin, Esquire, William, . . 416 

Jenkins, James, 244 , 

Jenkins, James, 339- 

Jenkins, Phoebe, 335 

Jodon, Peter, 353 

Jones, Thomas, 512 

.lordon, William, 335 

Katherman, David, 368, -^ 

Keene, Lawrence, 260 

Kelchner, Jonas, 539 

Kelly, Mrs. Sarah, 504 

Kelly, Colonel John, .... 506 

Kempling, Captain Thomas, 198 

Kerstetter, Sebastian, .... 251 

Kester, George, 297 

Klinesmith, Baltzer, .... 189 

Kremer, Honorable George, . 555 

Laird, Matthew, 256 

Langs, George, (suicide,) . . 386 

Lashells, Esquire, John, . . 547 

Lathy, William Kent, .... 384 

Laughlin, Samuel, 185 

Laughlin, Esther, 345 

Laughlin, Adam, 428 

Lee, John, and wife, .... 210 

Lepley, Michael, 170 

Lewis, Paschal, 454 

Linn, John, 384 

Lotz, Ulrich, 266 '- 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



603 



Deaths — 

Lowdon, Captain John, . . . 314 

Lukens, John, Surveyor Gen., 262 

McBeth, Mrs. Annie, .... 374 

McCandlish, senior, William, 231 

McClellan, James, 550 

McClenaclian, James, .... 235 

McClenachan, David, .... 261 

McClure, Mrs. Jean, .... 330 

McClure, Roan, 512 

McClung, John, 251 

McCracken, Henry, 193 

McCorley, Robert, 281 

McCorley, James, 374 

McGrady, Alexander, .... 276 

McGtiire, Thomas, 62 

McKee, Thomas, 50 

McKim, WUliam, 368 

McKim, Robert, 368 

McKnight, , 170 

McLaughlin, Samuel, .... 185 

McLaughlin, William, . . . 179 

McLaughlin, Hugh, 431 

Maclay, Esquire, William, . 344 

Macpherson, Honorable, John 493 

Madden, Neal, 374 

Marshall, James, 440 

Martin, Aaron, 179 

Martin, George, 352 

Merrill, James, 538 

Metzgar, Daniel, 374 

MUler, Theobald, 296 

Miller, Christian, 314 

Moore, John, 514 

Morrison, Reverend Hugh, . 344 

Morton, Japhet, 431 

Motz, George, 353 

Mumma, John, 491 

Murphy, John, 314 

Myers, Henry, 390 

Myers, David, 511 

Nevius, Christian, 431 

Newcomer, Bishop, 489 

Overmeier, Captain George, . 353 

Patterson, W. A., 555 

Peters, Henry, 309 

Piatt, Abraham, 310 

Polhemus, Albert and wife, . 157 

Pollock, Charles, 296 

Pollock, John, 354 

Pontius, Henry, 458 

Potter, Major General James, 261 

Priestly, Doctor Joseph, . . . 343 

Ranck, senior, John, .... 256 

Ranck, Adam, 385 

Ray, George, 335 

Rearick, John, 256 

Reasoner, Davy, 408 

Reasoner, James, 526 

Reedy, Conrad, 385 

Kees, Abel, 277 



Deaths — 

Rees, Daniel, 344 

Rees, Daniel, 436 

Richard, Henry, 354 

Riddle, George, 310 

Rodman, William, 209 

Rorabaugh, Pliilip, 453 

Rote, George, 311 

Rotten, Joseph, 62 

Row, George, 193 

Sample, John and wife, . . . 170 

Sargent, Charles, 514 

Sargent, James, 501 

Seebold, Christopher, .... 417 

Selin, Captain Anthony, . . 276 

Shedacre Jacob, 163 

Shewel, Adam, 353 

Shipton, Thomas, 493 

Sierer, John, 416- 

Simpson, John, 345 

Smiley, Reverend Thomas, . 511 

Smith, Peter, 50 

Smith, John, 213 

Smith, Adam, 261 

Smith, Nicholas, 281 

Smith, George, 293 

Smith, Colonel Matthew, . . 293 

Smith, Anna M., 297 

Smith, Michael, 354 

Smith, Esqviire, Daniel, . . . 390 

Smith, Albright, 390 

Smith, Enoch, 439 

Snyder, John, 251 

Soult, David, 470 

Specht, Adam_, 470 

Spyker, Esquire, Henry, . . 439 

Stanford, Jacob, 153 

Steele, William, 354 

Storms, David, 208 

Strawbridge, Hon. Thomas, . 417 

Struble, Peter, 549 

Struble, Adam, 428 

Sutherland, Thomas, .... 436 

Swartz, Peter, 345 

Swesey, Daniel, 453 

Swineford, John, 352 

Swineford, John, 386 

Swineford, Jacob, 488 

Taggert, Tliomas, 293 

Tate, Edward, 293 

Taveler, Joseph, 310 

Templeton, Samuel, .... 490 

Thompson, Captain James, . 198 

Thompson, John, 330 

Thompson, William, .... 368 

Thom, James, ........ 251 

Thom, James, 277 

Thornburg, John, 296 

Trinkle, Mathias, 231 

Troxell, George, 266 

Turner, John, 428 



6o^f. 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Deaths — 

Ultz, Joseph, 374 

Van Doreii, Thomas, .... 163 

Vandyke, Henry, 234 

Vandyke, Lambert, 293 

Vanvalzali, Doctor Robert, . 551 

Vanvolsen, Levi, child of, . . 281 

Vincent, Isaac, 17(5 

Wales, John, 314 

Wales, Mrs. Mary, 491 

Walker, John, 211 

Wallis, Joseph J., 390 

Walter, John, 417 

Watson, Patrick, 188 

Watson, David, 417 

Weeks, Joseph, 179 

Weirick, John, 390 

Weirick, Mrs. Elizabeth, . . 435 

Weiser, Christopher, .... 442 

Weitzell, Esquire, Casper, . . 213 



Deaths — 

Wertz, Deitrick, 345 

Weyland, Michael, 40 

Wierbach, John, 267 

Wilson, John, 48 

Wilson, Thomas, 320 

Wilson, Hugh, (of Buffalo,) . 545 

Wilson, Elizabeth, 4.30 

Wilson, Honorable Hugh, . . 545 

Wilson, William, 470 

Wilson, Thomas, (Kelly,) . . 504 

Wilt, George, 3(i7 

^ Wolfe, Jacob, 428 

' Yost, Casper, 209 

Young, Matthfew, 251 

Young, Adam, 367 

Young, .James, ....... 481 

Young, John, 527 

Youngman, Elias, 457 

Yutten, Jacob, 461 



Debate at Lewisburg, 492,523 

Debating societies, 491 

Deed, cojiy of Hawkins Boone's, 52 

De Haven, Peter, letter of, 155 

Depreciation, examples of, 175,184 

Derr, Ludwig, 33,48 

" " mill, meeting at, 56 

" " trading house, incident at, 96 

" " mention of, 237 

Derr, Christian, notice of, 452 

Derr, John, death of, 547 

Derrickson, Mrs. Mary, account of capture of Fort Freeland, .... 176 

Dieffenbach, Reverend Jacob, 369 

Disbury, Joseph, 231 

Dixon, Sankey, 243 

Dog run, 7,32 

Domestic incidents, 392,463 

Donnel, Charles G., 543 

Doudle, Daniel, 387 

Dougherty, Peter, 246 

Dreisbach's church, 39,253 

Dreisbach, Martin, 320 

Drouth, severe, 488 

Dry Valley, post ofRce established at, 552 

Dubbendorff, Reverend Samuel, 185 

Duel, Binns-Stewart, 347 

Duffield, George, D. D., quoted, ■. . 226 

Duncan, Esquire, Thomas, 364 

Eakers, Doctor Josej)h, 26 

Eclipses, 514 

Egbert, John, stable burned, 533 

Ejectment cases, 33,35,52,54,74,195,203,313 

Election, certificate of first, 96 

" contested, 148,216,239 

*' return of, 1783, 215 

returns, 288,334,373,437,448,457,460,463,522 

" first, under new constitution, 266 

" districts, 310,312,456,526 

" of militia officers, 539,540 

" presidential, 496 

Electors, choice of first presidential, 257 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. , 605 



Ellenkhusen, Mathias Joseph, 277 

Ely, Reverend Doctor Ezra Styles, 506 

Emerick family captured, 201 

Emigration, sources of, • 13 

" to the West, 527 

Encampments, 480,539,544,550 

Etzweiler, Greorge, killed, 185 

Evans, Evan Rice, 323 

" Captain Frederick, at Fort McHenry, 420 

" " " letters to George Kremer, 405,462 

Ewing, Jasper, death of, 326 

Ewig, Cliristian, notice of, 452 

Factories, woolen, 538 

Famine in Ireland and Scotland, 547 

Farley, John, quoted, 247 

Ferry at Sunbury, 44 

" landing dispute, 313 

" at Lewisburg, 274 

Fires, . 166,335,493,495,525,533,539,543,545,550,555 

Fire storm, 512 

Fisher's, Paul, statement, 157 

Fisher, John, 157 

Fisher's, Samuel, mill burned, 166 

Fisher, Esquire, G-eorge, 364 

Flag captured at Monmouth, 166 

Floods, great, 232,488,513,546,548,552 

Follmer, Thomas, drowned, 546 

" Henry, drowned, 546 

Forest iron-works, began building, 545 

" " " in hands of sheriff, 649 

" " " sold, 550 

Forest Hill, post-office established at, 551 

" " postmaster at, 551 

Forster, John, incident related by, 179 

" death of, 239 

" " killed, , .... 187 

" Lieutenant Thomas, 122 

" Captain John, appointed postmaster, 555 

Fort Augvista built, 13 

" Freeland captured, 175 

" Swartz, 193 

" McHenry, bombardment of, 420 

" " " Captain Frederick Evans at, 420 

■Fought's, Jacob, mill, 34,38 

Fought's, Mrs. Micliael, narrative, 159 

Fought and Trinkle murders, 206 

Foutz, Mrs. Conrad, 494 

Freeburg, residents of, 331 

Freeman, definition of, 67 

Frederick, Thomas, 340 

French Jacob's, mill attack on, 185 

" " " locality of, 186 

Frick & Slifer's boat-yard removed to Lewisburg, 551 

Frick, Slifer & Co's steam saw-mill burned, 555 

Frost, severe, 513 

Frick, General Henry, death of, 543 

Pries, Reverend, 398,410,442 

" " obituary of, 534 

Furnace built, 555 

Gabriel, George, 9,17,37 

Gal braith, Bertram, letter of, 156 



6o6 . ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Gazette, Sunbury, Northumberland, publication of, commenced, . . 269 

Gazette, Columbia, i^ublication of, commenced, 416 

Gcisweit, Reverend George, 285 

German regiment at Sunbury, 179 

German Reformed cliurches, 252 

" " *' first pastor of, 259 

Gift, Aaron K., account of Lepley, 170 

Gill, William, notice of, 23 

Gordon, Isaac G., notice of, 542 

Grant, Reverend William D., at Lewisburg, 543 

Grave-yards — Dry Run, 187 

Turtle Creek, 200 

White Deer, 240 

Presbyterian, 312 

Evangelical, 434 

German and Lutheran, 512 

Gray, Lieutenant William, 119,224 

" Captain William, death of, 431 

" Lieutenant Colonel Neigal, •. • • 232 

" George, .' . . 245 

Green, Joseph, 66,141,151,210 

" " death of, 335 

" George, letter from, 287 

" General Abbot, elected major general, 539 

Green's mill, 75 

Greenville laid out, 311 

Gregg, Andrew, marriage of, &c., 248 

Grier, D. D., Reverend Isaac, 52,61,231,524,546 

Grocliong's, Jacob, Mill, 185,186 

Grove, Peter, pursuit of Indians, 191 

" Michael, kills an Indian, 192 

" family notice of, 192 

Guelph's mills, action near, 146 

Gundy, Van Christian, recollections of, 97,171 

" " " notice of, 242 

Gundy, William, drowned, 546 

Haines township, formerly Potter, 264 

Halfpenny, J. & M., woolen factories, 538 

Hall, Esquii-e, Charles, 324,364 

Hammond, Lieutenant David, 81 

" General R. H., death and burial of, 548 

Harbaugh's Fathers, quoted, . 199,399 

Harbaugh, Reverend Henry , 543,548,550 

Harding, General Abner C, 501 

Harris, Honorable William L., death of, 546 

Hartley township, formerly Upper Moreland, 61 

" " erected, 391 

" Colonel Thomas, 163,316 

" " " expedition of, 165 

Hartleton, 316 

Hayes, John, death of, 544 

" William, store robbed, 492 

" " death of, and notice of family, 540 

" " incident of early life, 542 

Heckewelder quoted, 201 

Heim, Reverend John G., 379 

Heiser, H., appointed postmaster, 552 

Heisler, Reverend D. Y., quoted, 286 

" " " installed, 551 

Herrold, killed, 170 

Herrold tavern opened, 232 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 607 



Hetrick, Christian, ^ 

u ii killed ^^° 

Hickok, Henry C, appointed' Deputy Superintendent Public Schools, 556 

High's mill burned, • ^^^ 

Hiinrod, Simon, ■ '000 

Hoflfa's mills, ^°^ 

Hood, Reverend Thomas, ordination of, 0^0 

" " " last sermon, o-^* 

" death of, 549 

" Mrs. Mary, death of, ■ • g9 

Horseraces, cnn 

" " anti association formed, °^^ 

Hotels mentioned, 'i^'r 

Housel, Captain William, death of, &o^ 

Hucks, Captain, tory, killed, |^ 

Hug;hes, Napoleon, develops iron ore, '^^A9% 

Huling, Marcus, . 'ro7 

Hunt, Reverend Thomas P., lectures on temperance, &rf/ 

Hunter, Colonel Samuel, letters from, „•, \„V,.,-^ \o. o^4 

144 , 153 , 154 , 156 , 174 , 175 , 179 , 184 , 207 

" " " pursues the Indians, 211 

" " . " death of, 234 

Improvement act passed, • • • ■ • 503 

Improvements, 39,283,333,433 

Indian tribes, localities of, 1 

" paths, o 

" Muncy, leave the Valley, 20 

" Delawares, withdraw, 20 

" Six Nations, 9" 

" re-appear as enemies, 151,153,154,171,184,201,207,210 

" Mvmcy, in Canada, 201 

" married to whites, 202 

" outrages, , 208 

Independent press of Lewisburg, 538,544 

Inhabitants, 1775, 67 

Insane lad in House of Representatives, 346 

Insm-ance company, mutual fire, organized, 553 

Iron ore, develo]Dment of, 539 

" works, Berlin, first metal at, 545 

" " " blown out, 549 

" " Forest, began building, • 545 

" " << in hands of sherilf, 549 

" " " sold, 550 

Irvine, William, 297 

Irwm & Johnston, 35 

Isle of Que, 245 

Jack's movintain, name how derived, __8 

Jackson township erected, 555 

Jail, appropriation for, 64 

Jay's treaty, 295 

Jefferson's election, rejoicing over, 327,342 

Jenldns' mill, 221 

Johnson, Samuel, tried for firing a barn, 469 

Jones, Esquire, Isaac G., 524 

Journal, Conrad Weiser's, 2 

" Richard Miles', 53 

" Major Ennion Williams', 63,84 

Flavel Roan's, 338,359,379,388,397,407 

Jurors, grand, list of, 43,51,53,127,151 

" " petitionfor appointment of judge, 513 

" traverse, list of, 51,53,151,231 



bo8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Keene, Major Lawrence, prothonotary, 214 

Kelly, lirst settlers in, 34,53 

Kelly, ColonelJoim, 35,141,144,153,179 

" " " at Princeton, 139 

" " " pursues the Indians, 172 

" " " kills one near his cabin, 172 

" " " toast of, 327 

" " " sketch of, 506 

" " " monument erected to, 524 

Kelly, senior, James, o^jens temperence hotel in Lewisburg, .... 545 

Kelly, Mrs. Sarah, 504 

Kell}^ townsliip reported as Pike, 461 

" " erected, 462 

Kempling or Kemplen, Captain — See Campleton. 

Kennedy's Gazette susiiended temporarily^, [finally in 1817,] .... 416 

Kennedy, A., appointed postmaster, 549 

Kerstetter, George, notice of, 453 

Kester, George, bequest of, 297 

Kleckner, M., laarn burned, 543 

Kelchner, Jonas, death of, 539 

Klinesmitli, Baltzer, killed, 189 

" " notice of his daughters, 190 

Kremer, Honorable George, death of, 555 

Lafayette lodge, officers of, 500 

Laird, Matthew, notice of, and family, .' 255 

Lau-d, Reverend Matthew, sails for Africa, 512 

Lane, Elder William, 539 

Land office, new purchase, 28 

' ' locations, draAving of, 32 

" valuation of, ... 60 

Lashells, Esquire, John, death of, 547 

Laughlin, Samuel, killed, 185 

Lawyers, sketches of, 363 

" peculiarities of, 481 

Lechmere Point, skirmish at, 82 

Lee, Major John, 126,204 

" " " and wife killed, 210 

" Thomas, 211 

Lennox, George, 453 

Lepley, Michael, killed, 170 

Leroy, Jacob, 9 

" John, 9 

" Anna M., affidavit of, 12 

Levjr, Esquire, Daniel, 365 

Lewisburg laid out, 237 

" residents of, 238, 

242 , 253 , 269 , 279 , 282 , 301 , 322 , 332 , 337 , 354 , 356 , 370 , 379 , 387 - 

" survey made of, 254 

" merchants in, 311 

" first postmaster at, . 312 

*' incorporated, 406,456 

" sketch of, in 1787, 254 

" University, act incorporating, passed, 546 

" Academy, 546 

'< postmaster at, 548,549 

" cemetery at, 549 

" Chronicle, j)ublication of, began, 543 

* ' University, extension of, 556 

" sketch of, in 1813, 418 

" explosion in drug store at, 525 

" lecture at, 526 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. bog 



Lewis, Judge Ellis, commission read, 513 

License, applications for, 43,51,167 

" vote for and against, 547 

Lieutenants of the county appointed, and subs, 127 

Limestone township, original settlers of, 76 

" " erected, 550 

Lincoln, Lieutenant Hananiah, 124 

" Mishael, 169 

Line of Indian purchase, 17 

Linn, John, notice of, 453 

" J. F., diary of, 550 

Locusts appear, 418,455,530 

Logan, son of Shikellimy, 5 

" death of, 5 

Loskiel quoted, 4 

Lottery, Derr's, 238 

" for improvement of Penn's creek, 356 

" advertisements, 487 

Lowdon, Captain John, 49 

" " *' copy of his commission, 79 

" " " roll of his company, 79 

" " " letter to, from Hooper & Haines, 83 

" " " company mustered out, 85 

" " " letter to, from Speaker Jacobs, 126 

" " " sketch of, 314 

Lukens, John, death of, ""T^-^ 262 

Lutheran churches, 253,430,534754^ 

Lutz, A. H., appointed postmaster, 551 

McCabe, Esquire, R. B., sketches, 97,168 

McCandlish, George, 94 

" William, house built, 74 

" << 231 

McClellan, Esquire, James, Z%Z 

" " " death of, 550 

McClune's, James, school, 526 

McClure, Alexander, appointed postmaster, . ! 548 

McCracken, Henry, killed, 193 

McCormick, Seth, 246 

" Thomas, .' 246 

McHarge, Joseph, soldier, 167 

McHenry, Henry, 211 

McKim, Miller, delivers abolition lecture, !.!!!!! 527 

Mack and Grube, journal of, 5 

Maclay, Honorable Samuel, sketch of, !.!!'.!! 401 

Maclay, William, letters of, 155,175 

" " Native American letter, 'l84 

" " elected United States Senator, 255 

" R. P., appointed associate judge of Clarion county, 549 

Macpherson, John, (Judge,) 166,493 

Mahantango township, inhabitants of, 308 ,'332 

Mails, arrival and departure of, 327 434 

Manor, survey in Valley, !!!'.!..' 18 

Manufactiires, &c., review of, '.'.'.".'.". '. . . '. '. 269 

Market quotations, 432 441 

455 , 457 , 459 , 497 , 503 , 513 ,529 ,539 ,543 ,544 ,546 ,547 ,549 ,551 ,552 , 555 , 556 
" public at New Berlin, .............. 432 

Marr, Reverend P. B., ordained and installed, 514 

Marriages — 

Alsbach, William, Catherine Shively, 490 

Alter, Jacob, Ann Kessler, ' 438 

Amberg, Hezekiah, Elizabeth Brooks, !.!!!!!! 485 

39 




6io ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Marriages — 

Amberg Abraham, Charlotte Brooks, 500 

Apple, Daniel, Susan Orwig, 486 

Aurand, George, Mary Royer, 500 

Balcly, General Christopher, Eve Metzgar, 384 

Barber, Thomas, Betsy Clingan, 411 

Barry, Elisha, Elizabeth Herbst, 430 

Beeber, John, Anna Baker, 428 

Benner, Mathias, Elizabeth Overmeier, 486 

Benner, Henry, Mary Royer, 500 

Billman, Jacob, Charity , 416 

Billmyer, Martin, Margaret Hinnnelreich, 367 

Black, David, Catherine Berry, 411 

Bower, Joseph, Susanna Machamer, 384 

Bower, Moses, Catherine Moyer, 390 

Bower, George, Polly Smith, 390 

Breyvogel, Jacob, Susanna Baldy, 329 

Brobst, John, Lj^dia Marriner, 367 

Brown, Peter, Catherine Kautz, 373 

Burd, Levi, Eve Winegardner, 416 

Burnside, Thomas, Mary Fleming, 367 

Caldwell, James, Isabella Duncan, 490 

Candor, Thomas, Margaret Montgomery, 485 

Chamberlin, Aaron, Betsy Dale, 411 

Chamberlin, John, Elizabeth Hayes, 490 

Chamberlin, Joseph, Nancy Deal, 495 

Charles, C. H., Juliette Mann, 500 

Chestney, Jacob G., Juliana Cummings, 486 

Christ, Esquire, L. B., Esther Bogar, 500 

Coasin, Ludwig, Susanna Oliphant, 354 

Cochran, junior, John, Anna M. Grove, 400 

Dale, James, Eliza Bell, ' 441 

Davis, William, Catherine Derr, 400 

Derr, Jacob, Isabella Hunter, 495 

Dersham, Samuel, Susanna Shadel, 416 

Devling, John, Mary Wilson, 490 

Devling Walter, Eliza Wilson, 499 

Dickson, Jesse, Polly Merlile, 416 

Donachy, Alexander, Fanny Seitz, 416 

Dreisbach, Daniel, Katy Dreisbach, 330 

Dreisbach, Martin, Elizabeth Kleckner, 470 

Duncan, James, Sophia Maxwell, 485 

Duncan, David, Susan Hayes, 495 

Dunn, Washington, Betsy Musser, 390 

Engleman, Michael, Barbara Gilman, 411 

Epler, Peter, Eve Clu-ist, 352 

Evans, Evan Rice, Mrs. Forrest, 400 

Forster, Robert, Jane Rutherford, 499 

Forster, John, Margaret Vanvalzah, 495 

Francis, William, Catherine Gettig, 435 

Frederick, Philip, Christena Brown, 384 

Freedly, John, Elizabeth Lehman, 373 

Freeclly, George, Catherine, Frantz, 373 

Fruit, Robert, Maria Nevius, 411 

Goodlander, Paul, Rachel Heckel, 416 

Gregg, Andrew, Martha Potter, 248 

Grier, Thomas, Rachel Stratton, 490 

Grier, Doctor Joseph F., Margaret Graham, 499 

Grove, Henry, Hannah Leisenring, 384 

Grove, Simon, Mary Miller, 500 

Grove, John, Sarah Montgomery, ' 411 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. • ^/i" 



Marriages — 4f.i 

Grove, Conrad, Mary Gingerich, ^"| 

Gutelius. John P., Maria Aui-and Ji^ 

Hammond, Lieutenant R. H., Ann Eliza Dimcan, ^o' 

Haus, John, Margaret Roush, *^^ 

Hayes, Robert, Emily Fields, ^"" 

Hayes, John, Jane McFadden, *^^ 

Hepburn, Samuel, Ann Clay, ^"" 

Highland, WHliam, Mary Gann, . . . . ■ ^^" 

Hill, Daniel K., Barbara Musser, ^"Y 

Hotlman, Michael, Lydia Wagner, *°^ 

Housel, John, Margaret Musser, *^Y 

Howard, Thomas, Elizabeth Harris, ^^j!- 

Hutchinson, Samuel, Jennie Wallace, ^^" 

Jodon, Francis, Elizabeth Cherry, *^° 

Johnston, John, Elizabeth Kress, ^^^ 

Jordan, Nathan, Hannah Smith, " ' lift 

Keenly, Daniel, Maria Richter, ^|° 

Kelly, James, Hannah Seitz, *^^ 

Kelly, William, Margaret Allison, *°^ 

Kemp, Titus, Betsy Huntmgdon, %^ 

Kirk, WUliam, Jane Knox, ^^" 

Kreechbaum, Peter, Elizabeth Davis, ^^1. 

Keechbaum, George, Polly Keller, '^' 

Laird, Reverend Matthew, Harriet Myer, V^^ 

Lawshe, John, Polly Seitz, ^^^ 

LaAVSon, James, Nancy Clingan, *|^ 

Lesher, Philip, Polly BUlmyer, *^o 

- Lewis, Paschall, Elizabeth Boude, ^^® 

Linn, William, Jane Morrow, *^^ , 

Linn, John, Mary F. Chamberlin, ^\ • 

Linn, James F., Margaret Wilson, ^1 

Long, Peter, Sarah Moore, ^ 

Ludwig, Daniel, Sarah Hoffman, *^? 

Mackey, Mr., Abigail Iddings, 'fJi 

Maclay, John, Annie Dale, *^^ 

Maclay, Robert P., Margaret C. Lashells, *°o 

Magee, Captain James, Elizabeth Strayhorn, 4^^ 

Magee, John, Susan Struble, ^A 

Maize, John, Elizabeth Jones, *°^ 

Martin, David, Jane McClung, ' ' ' asd 

Martin, Lawrence, Polly Juge, ^°* 

Mauck, David, Nancy Shriner, *^^ 

Mauck Jesse, Catherine Crotzer, ^^|^ 

Merrill, James, Sarah Hepburn, ^yu 

Metzgar, Abner, Eleanor Lawshe, *^^ 

Meyer, Michael, Sarah Kelley, f^ 

Miller, WUliam, Elizabeth Myers, fA^ 

Mitchel, George, Eliza Anderson, ' lac 

Mook, Daniel, Mary Dieffenbach, 4°° 

Mook, George, Julia Fastnock, '^ 

Moore, Lewis, Dorothy Smith, ^ 

Montgomery, Robert, Nancy Knox, ^oR 

Moyer, Henry, Polly Strickland, 4^^ 

Mussena, Henry B., Elizabeth Winter, *»o 

Myers, Henry, Hannah Walter, SUU 

Myers, Peter, Sophia Nixon, ^oo 

McBeth, Andrew, Ann Linn, 4g° 

McCormick, Saul, Catherine Hood, 4^^ 

McLaughlin, Hugh, Frances Derr, 4^5 

McLaughlin, Hugh, Elizabeth McAllister, 4lt) 



6i2 • ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Marriages — 

Nesbit, William, Nancy Musser, 373 

Nesbit, David, Mary Musser, 485 

Orwig, John, Maria"^ Bright, 486 

Peters, Isaac, Susan Miller, 470 

Pontius, Conrad, Mary Seebold, 470 

Ranck, John, Nancy Luther, 384 

Ranck, Joel, Sarah Long, 390 

Ranck, Jonathan, Catherine Long, 430 

Reedy, Jonathan, Amelia Buckner, 490 

Rees, Jacob, Elizabeth Williamson, 430 

Renner, Frederick, Magdalena Krause, 354 

Roush, Samuel, Elizabeth Dunkle, 438 

Row, John, Rachael Kunkle, 486 

Selin, Anthony, Catherine Yoner, 390 

Sergeant, John, Catherine Beyer, 354 

Shannon, Daniel, Christena Pross, 430 

Shaw, John, Margaret Baker, 500 

Sheckler, Tobias, Catherine Fredericks, 296 

Shriner, Daniel, Catherine Funston, 435 

Sierer, John, Louisa McMillan, 384 

Snyder, John, Margaret Hammond, 490 

Snyder, John, Mary Kittera, 441 

Snyder, George, Anna Ellen Duncan, 457 

Snyder, Simon, Catherine Antes, 309 

Stahl, Philip, Susanna Spotz, 390 

Steadman, William C, Elizabeth Wilson, 470 

Straub, Michael, Sarah Grove, 354 

StraAvbridge, Mr., Louisa Maus, 486 

Strayer, Jacob, Rachael Harmony, 435 

Strayhorn, Peter, Cornelius, 499 

Strickland, Samuel, Elizabeth Turner, 430 

Swartz, Peter, Magdalena Weyland, 49 

Thompson, William, Susan Linn, 342 

Troxell, George, Mary Hoflfman, 354 

Updike, Elijah, Elizabeth Snook, 400 

Vandyke, John, Margaret Adams, 384 

Vanvalzali, John A., Rebecca Chambers, 500 

Wagner, Jacob, Rachael McGuire, 461 

Walters, John, Susanna Moyer, 435 

Wehr Jacob, Margaret Sassman, 430 

Weiser, Conrad, Elizabeth Snyder, 390 

Wetze ., Jonathan, Hettie Hoff, . 486 

Wilsfai, Hugh, Catherine Irvine, 266 

Wilson, Thomas, Mrs. Drake, 493 

Wilson, William, Ruth Waddell, 499 

Woods, junior, Christopher, Maria Little, 500 

Yarger, John, Margaret Kelly, 493 

Yost, John, Sarah Shaffer, 490 

Zerbe, Henry, Susanna Heckel, 373 

Zentmyer, Israel, Eve Snook, 500 

Masonic procession, 493 

" Anti, excitement, 498 

" " delegate meeting, .■ 519 

Maynard's Clinton county quoted, 267 

Meeting, anti school, 514 

" " " resolutions adopted, 515 

" " " delegates, list of, 516 

" " Masonic delegate, 519 

«' native American, 544 

" railroad, at Mifflinburg, 546 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 613 



Meeting, railroad, at Lewisburg, 552 

" " New Berlin, 553 

" " Potters's fort, 554 

Meginness' West Branch quoted, 178,191,192,210,232,283 

Merrill, James, address of, 606 

" " death of, 538 

Meteoric shower, 612 

Meteor at New Berlin, 483 

Mexican war, soldiers in, 547 

Middleburg, residents of, • 331 

Middle creek, alias Christunn, 12 

Mifflinburg laid out, 274 

residents of, 279,282,318,355,370,379,387 

<' first court held at, 418 

" Academy, act establishing, passed, 492 

" incorporated, 492 

MUes, Colonel Samuel 13 

" Richard, jovirnal, 63 

Military record, 1861-5, . 580 

MUitia officers, 90,102,104,108,241 

" elections, 525,539,540 

" companies of Valley, 539 

Miller, Philip, appointed court-crier, 448 

Miller, George F., barn burned, 545 

Millerism excitement, 542 

Mills built— Fought's, 38 

Smith's, 60 

Titzell's, * 62 

Barber's, 193 

Weiser's fulling, 243 

Farley's, John, 247 

Farley's, Caleb, 258 

Chillisquaque, 251 

Penn's creek, 311 

Barber's, Robert, 311 

Wilt's, 327 

steam flour, 654 

Mingo, White, murder of, 24 

Minutes of the Committee of Safety, 99,127 

Mitman, J. M., appointed postmaster, 548 

Mizener, Adam, captured, 188 

Monckton, Colonel, sword of, 162 

Monmouth, battle of, 159 

INIontelius, Honorable John, address to electors, . . : 530 

Montour, John, 169 

Moore, Colonel James, quoted, 3,283 

Morgan, Jacob, letter from, 153 

Morrison, Reverend Hugh, 248 

" " " his call, 249 

" " " sermons of, 284 

" " " difficulty with Maclay, 296,318 

" " " dismissed, 329 

Morton, Johnny, sketch of, 501 

Mountains, mention of, 8 

Mumma, Esquire, John, deatli of, 491 

Musser's distillery burned, 539 

Necrology of the Buffalo Valley, 564 

Nesbit's, fire at, 335 

Nevin, Doctor John W., preaches in Lewisburg, 547 

New Berlin, residents of, 283,301,322,332,337,356,370,387 

" " courts at, 429 



6r4 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



New Berlin, plan of, made, 433 

" " showman at, 482 

" " meteor at, 483 

" " incorporated, May 16, 1837. 

Newcomer, Bishop, visits Valley, 299,325,413,429,434,489 

Newspapers — Kennedy's Gazette, suspended temporarily, 416 

Columbia Gazette began publication, 416 

Andrew Kennedy's, junior, 418 

Union Hickory removed to Lewisburg, 497 

Sunburj' Northumberland Gazette began publication, 269 
" " " susi^ended, .... 416 

Union Times, 457 

" " editorsof, 480,522,539 

Lewisburg Journal published, 501 ■- 

People's Advocate, at Lewisburg, suspended, 538 

Independent Press began publication, 538 

" " editors of, 544 

Lewisburg Chronicle began publication, 543 

" " editor of, 543,548,550,556 

Pittsburgh Daily, editor of, 544 

Items from Henry Shaup's Union, 432 

Union Star sold, 549 

Union Democrat, editor of, 549 

The Guardian, 550 

Northumberland county erected, 40 

" " first officials of, 41 

" " " courts held in, 42 

" " ' " sheriff of, 44 

" " " suits in, 44 

" " bar, sketches of, 323 

" " recruiting in, 151 

" " divided into election districts, 238 

Officers, application for land, 26 

" grant of land to, 27 

" survey of land, 30,37 

" " meeting, reference to, 36 

" militia, elected, 525,539 

Officials, list of, 558 

Orders, general, from Lieutenant Colonel Weirick's order book, . . 426 

Overmeier's, Mrs., statement, 187 

Paoli massacre, 143 

Parr, Major James, 33,81 

" '"' " roll of his company , 86 

Pastors of Baiatist church, ; 371 

Patterson, Captain Samuel, monuinent erected to, 537 

" W. A., death of, 555 

Pealer, Captain, in Nittany valley, 154 

Pence, Peter, 8 

Penn, Thomas and Richard, purchase from Six Nations, 26 

Penn's creek massacre, 8 

" residents on, 10 

" public highway, 36 

" appropriations for improvements, 497 

Penn's township, settlers of, 23,37,40 

" bounds of, . 42 

" list of inhabitants, 91,150, 

182,194,209,214,237,242,245,253,263,269,280,284,294,313 
Pensioners, United States, residing in Union county in 1840, .... 537 

Pennsylvania convention, 65 

Phreeiner, Reverend John G., 275 

Pickering's life, quoted, 242 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 615 



Pickliard, John, case of, 137 

" Nicholas, case of, 138 

Piscataway, skirmishes at, 141 , 143 

Pittsburgh Daily, editor of, 544 

Plunlvet, William, expedition to Wyoming, 87 

" " notice of, 271 

Poalc, James, family of, 213 

Pohlhemus, Albert, family, 157 

Pollock, John, opens store, 294 

•' Hugh, publishes pamphlet, 538 

" Reverend Hugh, takes charge of Lewisburg Academy, . . . 537 

Political notes, .54,76,147,257, 

266,280,282,287,295,310,312,319,325,334,351,356,369,371,434,436, 
448 , 455 , 456 , 459 , 463 , 487 , 489 , 493 , 497 , 499 , 501 , 505 , 519 , 525 , 526 , 527 , 
529 , 533 , 538 , 540 , 543 , 544 , 545 , 546 , 548 , 549 , 550 , 552 , 553 , 554 , 555 , 557 

Pontius, Pliilip, statements, 187 

" Henry, notice of, 458 

Poor-liouse, vote for and against, 550 

Post-offices established, 551,552 

Potter township, erected, 53 

" " name changed, 264 

Potter, General James, 142,144,151,243 

" " " letters to and from, . . . .145,146,154,163,174,200 

" " " death of, 261 

Presbyterian church, Cross-Roads, 51,60,231,250,270,433 

" " Lewisburg, 505,511 

" " at New Berlin, ' 538,543 

Presbytery of Northumberland, formed, 391 

Prices current, 432,441,455, 

457,459,497,503,513,529,539,543,544,546,547,549,551,552,555,556 

Price, Sergeant Thomas, 119 

Priestly, Doctor Joseph, 343 

Princeton, battle at, 139 

Proliibitory liquor law, vote for and against, 555 

Pumi^kins, big, 534 

Pu.rchases, 1754, 8 

1758, 16 

1768, 26 

Quinn, Esquire, David, incident related by, 158 

" Samuel, commissioned, 194 

Quinn's run, origin of name, 194 

Rahauser, Reverend Jonathan, 259 

Railroad incorporated, 526 

" stirvey began, 526 

" Sunbury and Erie, subscription to, 526 

" Lewisburg, Centre, and Spruce Creek, incorporated, .... 554 
" " " " suz'vey began, . . . 554 

Read, William, case of, 135 

Real estate, valuation of, by townships, 551 

Reasoner, James, accident to, 526 

Reber, Samuel, opens hotel, 501 

Red Bank run, 25 

Reed family, 25' 

Reger, Elias, notice of, 453 

Reichel, Reverend W. C, notice of, 19 

Reily, General, 544 

Revival at Lewisburg, 543 

Revolutionary soldiers, notices of, 449 

" " at fourth of July celebration, 505 

" struggle inaugurated, 76 

Rifle battalion, notice of, 82 



6ib ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Rifle battalion, standard of, described, 85 

Riflemen, ordered to be raised, 78 

" enlisted at Derr's mill, 78 

River, improvement of the, 260 

Road — Fort Augusta to Lycoming creek, 44 

Derr's to Narrows, 51,65 

Great Plains to Sunbury, 51 

Reuben Haines, 65 

Bald Eagle to Sunbury, 86 

HeadofPenn's valley to J. Davidson's ferry, .... 251,252,259 
Lewisburg, by Cross-Roads, to Mifflinburg, 252,487,495,496,497,499 

Shirtz, at Narrows, to Colonel Clarke's lane, 252 

Jenkins' mill to M. and L. road, 327 

Milton to Derrstown and Mitflinbm-g road, 335 

Jenkins' mill to Michael Smith's, 337 

Gephart's to turnpike, 346 

Brush valley to James Irwin's, 274 

Wolfe's tavern to Buffalo creek, 274 

Rockey's mills to Reznor's, 418 

Reznor's saw-mill to Brush valley and Mifflinburg road, . . . 418 

Bellefonte to White Deer creek, 463 

Lewisburg to Selinsgrove, 497 

Mortonsville, by Hugh Wilson's and Derr's, 418,501 

Chamberlin's mill to Kelly's saw-mill, 499 

Turtle creek, 501 

State, Heverling's mill to Elk creek, 537 

Sugar Valley and White Deer, 552 

Roan, Flavel, 243 

" " poetry of, 292 

" " journal of, 338,359,379,388,397,407 

Robh's, Robert, case, 115,127 

Robinson, John, 543 

Roll of Captain John Lowdon's company, 79 

" " James Parr's comjDany, 86 

" twelfth Pennsylvania, 124 

" Captain John Clarke's company, 121 

" soldiers captiired at Fort Freeland, 179 

" Captain James Thompson's company, 188 

" " Casper Weitzel's company, 118 

" " B. Weiser's company, 140 

" " Peter Grove's company, 206 

<' " Samuel McGrady's company, 206 

" Rangers, 207 

" Captain Lowdon's company, 1784, ". . . . 233 

" " Donaldson's company, 1812, 408 

" " Middleswarth's company, 1812, 410 

" Field and staff of Lieutenant Colonel George Weirick's regi- 
ment, 421 

♦' Captain Henry Miller's company, 421 

" " . Jacob Hummel's comi^any, 422 

" " Valentine Haas' company, 423 

" " John Bergstresser's company, 424 

" " William F. Buyers' company, 425 

" " Ner Middleswarth's company, 427 

Roise dancer at New Berlin, 464 

Rorabaugh, Philip, notice of, 453 

" " buried, 527 

Rote, George, and his sister captured, 199 

Row, George, killed, • 193 

Roj'al Grenadiers' flag captured, 159 

Rumsey, John, 245 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 617 



Runaway, the Great, 1778, ' 154,176 

Rupp, I. D., quoted, 13 

Salt-works, 480 

Sample, John, and wife killed, 171 

Sargent, John, removes, 525 

Sawj^er, Thomas, 499 

Schools, 297,359,413,460 

School, anti, meeting of, 514 

" " " resolutions adopted at, 515 

" " delegate meeting, 516 

" " delegates, list of, 516 

" vote for and against, 518,536 

" first county superintendent of, 555 

" Deputy Superintendent of Putjlic, 556 

Scull's map, 36 

Seebold, Pliilip, 159 

Selin, Captaui Anthony, 276 

Selinsgrove, residents of, 332 

" incorporated, 492 

" first hotel in, 232 

Seminary, Union, at New Berlin, established, 556 

Settlers, early, Penn to\^Tiship, 23 

" of Valley, 33,39,49,50,53,54,62 

" first Baptist, 283 

Shamokin. now Sunbury, 2 

" original name of the country, 7 

Shaeflfer, Reverend Sanuiel, 546 

Shil-cellimy, Viceroy, 2 

" residence of, 2 

" removes to Shamokin, 4 

" death of, 20 

Shikellimy's old town, 3,32 

Shikellimy, Loskiel's notice of, 4 

Shively, Cliristian, statement of, 187 , 189 

" John, carried away, 199 

Shoemaker, Charles L., 549 

Showman at New Berlin, 482 

Shows, character of, 527 

Skeleton found, 555 

Slaves, .• 74,242,299 

Slenker, Honorable Isaac, 495 

Smitli, Catherine, petition of, 240 

" Widow, mills, 60,175,240 

" " petition of, 240 

" Anna M., bequest of, 297 

" Esquire, Cliarles, sketch of, 363 

" Enoch, sketch of, 439 

" Ann, alias Carson, arrested, 433 

" Adam, sketch of, 463 

" Michael, statement of, 203 

" Matthew, letters of, 155,186 

" " specimen record of, 209 

" Jolui, of Buffalo, family of, 213 

" Daniel, 323,365 

Snyder, Governor Simon, letter from, to George Kremer, 434 

" " " sketch of, 443 

" Antes, • • . 446 

" George A., extracts from manuscript, 190, 

464 , 479 , 482 , 484 , 502 , 527 , 530 , 542 

" John, heirs of, law suit, vs. Simon Snyder, 465 

Snyder county, erected, 556 



6i8 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



Snowstorms, 495,527,536,544 

Social incidents, 392,463 

Society, Union County agricultural, 528,554 

" Susquehanna Bible, formed, 433 

" debating, 491 

Soldiers, revolutionary, notices of, 449 

" list of, from Union county in Mexican War, 547 

Soult, David, 470 

Spangenberg, Reverend Cyriacus, notice of, 217 

" " " executed for murder, 218 

Spalding, Captain Simon, testimony, 217 

Speddy, William, 46 

Spyker, Henry, house built, 294 

" " notice of, 439 

Stanford, Jacob, killed, 153 

Starret's mill burned, 175 

Steam flour-mill built, 554 

Straubstown, residents of, 331 

Stevens, Ephraim, 481 

Still bursted, 492 

Stony Point captured, 175 

Storms, David, killed, 208 

Storm, lieavy north-east, 552 

Stove, Hathaway cooking, manufacture of begun, 539 

Strickland, Timothy, 453 

Strubble, Peter, death of, 549 

Stumjj, Frederick, murders by, 24 

Suits, act passed transferring all unsettled, to Union county, 418 

Sullivan, General, letter from, 174 

Sunbury laid out, 43 

" Northumberland Gazette, 269 

Sunderland, Daniel, 247 

Supreme Court justices opinion of Ritner, 498 

" personnel of justices of, 498 

" middle district created, 356 

Surveys, first, 19,28 

" oflBcers, naade, 30 

" early, 34,38,48,52,61,75,237 

Surveyors, deputy, appointed, 257 

Susquehanna declared a highway, 36 

" survey of, 264 

Swan, Samuel, 246 

Swartz, Peter, marriage of, 49 

" " house burned, 157 

Swartzel, Esquii-e, H., 47 

Swesey, Daniel, notice of, 453 

Swineford's hotel, 247 

" mvirder of, 488 

Swinefordstown, residents of, 331 

Switzer run, 7 

" tract, 74 

Synod, Pliiladelphia, met at Lewisburg, 548 

Taggert, M. H., appointed postmaster, 552 

Tannery burned, 525 

Tan-yard at Buffalo Cross-Roads, 279 

Tate, Edward, 210 

Taxables, enumeration of, by townships, 551 

Taylor, Thomas, anecdote oi^, 488 

Teedyuscung, king of the Delawares, 19 

Telegraph brought to Lewisburg, 552 

Temperance associations formed, 483 



ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 6ig 



Temperance society, 504 

'> efforts, 544 

" sons of, organized, 545 

Tenipleton, Samuel, death of, 490 <- 

Thompson, Captain James, narrative of, 195 

Thornton, Doctor Thomas A. H., 549 

Times, Union, publication of, began, 457 

" " editors of, 522 

Titzell'smill, 62 

Tomato, as an edible, 443 

Treaty at Fort GreenvUle, 223 

Turtle creek, 7 

Turnpikes, 495,496,497,552 

Tusk, mammoth, dug up, 552 

Union township, surveys, 34 

" " erected, 429 

" county, " 412 

" Hickory, (newspaper,) removed to Lewisburg, 497 

" furnace built, 555 

" seminary at New Berlin established, 556 

" '< " " " officers of, 556 

Utica, origin of, for girl's name, 489 

Universitj^, Lewisburg, act to establish, passed, 546 

" " first commencement, 552 

" " graduating class, 552 

" " change of presidents, 552 

" " Academy building of, ground broken for, . 548 

"Van Campen's narrative referred to, 191 

Van Fleet, Cornelius, 245 

Van Gundy, Christian, licensed, 51 

" " narratives of, 91,171 

" " notice of, 242 

Vanvalzah, Doctor Robert, 253 

" " " death of, 551 

" " Thomas, 527 

" Howard, accident to, 514 

Vincent, Daniel, incident of, 178 

Wagoner, Adam, house and mill burnt, . . . .' 495 

Walker, John, sequel to his murder, 212 

Washington township erected, 239 

" " inhabitants of, 239 

Watson, Patrick, killed, 189 

Watts, Esquire, David, 364 

Weather record, 479,497,500,511,513,523,526,536 

Wedding, first in the Valley, 49 

" party, 463 

Weeks, Rachel, 245 

" Jesse, 246 

Weirick, Lieutenant Colonel, order book, 426 

Weiser, Conrad, journal of, 2 

" Captain Benjamin, roll of his company, 140 

Weisertown, residents of, 332 

Weisner, Thomas, 245 

Weitzel, Captain Casper, letter of, 77 

" " " roll of his company, 140 

" " '' death of, 213 

Welch, Clinton, drowned, 556 y 

West Buffalo, early settlers in, 54 

Wheat, fall of, 405 

Whisky insurrection, incidents of, 286 

White Deer creek — Opaghtanoten, 7 



620 ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY. 



White Deer mills built, 60 

" '< " burned, 175 

" " townshij) erected, 89 

" " " inhabitants of, 149,182, 

194,214,232,236,242,244,253,258,274,279,284,294, 
305,310,317,326,332,337,840,354,355,370,379,387 

" " " valuation of, 299 

" " distilleries in, 260 

" " election district, 310 

" *' Hole valle}^ peojileof, 245 

White Min^o, murder of, 24 

Wliitman, Professor, J. S., elected county sui^erintendent, 555 

Weirbach's, John, daughter captured, 206 

Williams', Major Ennion, journal, 63,84 

Wilson, John, . 33 

Wilson, Judo-e William, 81,159,162 

" William, Doctor T. H., grandfather, 49,188 

" Thomas, 320 

" " of Kelly, death of, 504 

" William, of Kelly, 470 

" Honorable Hugh, death of, 545 

" Hugh, of Buffalo, notice of, : . 545 

Winfield post-offce established, 552 

Witchraft farce, 484 

Withington, Captain Peter, 124 

'» Martin opens hotel, 269 

Wolfe's, John, barn burned, 545 

Wolfinger, John F., quoted, 94,143,245 

Wolves perish from cold, 523 

Woolen factories, 538 

Worden, O. N., quoted, 45,283,371,548 

Wright, John, (erratum for Weight, read Wright,) 422 

Yellow fever, 280 

Yeomans, Doctor, preaches at Lewisburg, ; 548 

Yiesely, Michael, notice of, 454 

Young, Margaret, story of, 197,251 

" James, death of, 481 




SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE. 



After these Annals had gone to press, John Jordan, junior, Es- 
quire, of Philadelphia, found in the library of the Archives of the 
Moravian Church, at Bethlehem, the Narrative of Anne LeRoy and 
Barbara Leininger, referred to upon page 12. Rewrites: " it is 
in the German language, fourteen pages, and bound in one of the 
five volumes entitled ' Varia,' in that library, of which Bishop Ed- 
ward de Schweintz is custodian. It purports to be taken from the 
lips of the parties, but does not give exact information of the precise 
places where the girls were captured. They lived on adjoining farms, 
some miles from Shamokin. They were taken in October, 1755, 
and reached Philadelphia May 6, 1759." 



I am glad the occasion for a note enables me to acknowledge my 
obhgations to William H. Egle, M. D., of Harrisburg, for many 
valuable suggestions, and for his intelligent and laborious supervision 
of the proofs ; but for which, in a book containing such an abund- 
ance of names and dates, many errors other than those which may 
possibly be found must have occurred. 

John Blair Linn. 
July 18, 1877. 



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